AI Dilemmas and Perspectives

“If you’re making AI, it is potentially very good, potentially very terrible,” Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI/ChatGPT – as quoted from Wall Street Journal Review article, April 2023, entitled ‘Sam Altman builds our AI Future.’

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Assuming you’re tuned into the latest debates on Artificial Intelligence (AI), you’re likely confused by the media hype, expert opinions, and word on the street! ?On one hand, you learn about efforts by many recognized gurus requesting a pause in current AI development. On the other, you are confronted by tremendous push-back by “techies” informing us that the hype is overblown. Companies like Microsoft, who have taken a strong lead in AI development, are likely to view it all as great marketing for their latest OpenGPT products…or AGI, Artificial General Intelligence.

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So where do we stand? I, for one, have welcomed the “pause movement” idea; not because I’m scared of AI, where again its hype is overblown, but because we need some sensible discussion about its role relative to humankind. Without some commonsense guidelines, there’s a strong possibility of its “very terrible” features being leveraged to humankind’s disadvantage. Then it will eventually become denigrated to mankind’s loss. We had the same sensible debate over human cloning.

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What we can safely say is that AI doesn’t possess human intelligence properties (EQ), it lacks vital human empathy, and it’s unable to offer original human creativity. If any of you are writers, who frequently utilize Microsoft Word, you could occasionally feel pretty frustrated by its good intentions on English grammar. That’s likely to improve over time, although, at the same time, such AI interventions do undermine an author’s own unique style. In other words, it can be helpful, although sometimes annoying, as it doesn’t always seem to relate to “human” exceptions. According to “techie” experts, AI’s ability to close these final gaps is some element of time away…if ever?

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So what do we do during the meantime? According to an internet sourced Deloitte Analysis of Tech Trends in 2023; 82% of US enterprises were prevented from pursuing digital transformation projects due to lack of resources and skills. In other words, our foreseeable challenges with AI and similar technologies are really a leadership issue, rather than necessarily a technology one. This brings us to three key factors in dealing with our AI dilemmas:

? Leadership education

? Putting AI into perspective

? Optimum use of AI

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? Leadership Education – It’s pretty clear that our leadership class has hardly caught-up with organization and people-education issues associated with our computer-information age; that alone address the capabilities and executive considerations associated with AI. People are inevitably a slow moving resource when it comes to education, while technology innovation can move at incredible speeds once the genie is out of its bottle!

That means that “techies” and their associated AI sponsors should be giving enormous attention to the education of venture leaders and their associated technology executives on how to address this latest AI wave. Just throwing technology advances out there for mostly financial and prestige gain is irrespon-sible. It’s just the same as not putting sports teams out on the field unless you’ve already equipped

them to handle the competition.

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? Putting AI into Perspective – There are many journalists out there hyping the potential threat of AI. It also creates front-page headlines. AI clearly has some interesting capabilities, although there are fears among some AI thinkers that a number of program developers are creating potentially dangerous applications outside the public eye.

Consequently, this fast developing field needs greater unison to not only

educate the public about “What’s to come,” but also create workable guidelines to harness its potentially more reckless members.

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? Optimum use of AI – Optimum use of AI will be realized when we find a healthy balance between AI applications and human desires. We should absolutely ditch any discussion around the notion that people will eventually becomes slaves to it; the wicked side of man’s thinking. On the other hand, if we can train it to take care of so many “efficiency” related tasks – routine functions, cost-shaving pennies, memory assists, repetitive tasks, on-time transportation, daily chores and so on – that will be a potential boon to mankind. Then leave humans to handle our “effectiveness” needs – breakthroughs, innovations, critical judgments, emotional challenges, political education, and so forth – then there’s the prospect of a great unifying partnership.

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At the end of the day, those that really care about the future of mankind should:

? Organize national/international forums to hash-out some urgently needed principles and guidelines aimed at harnessing AI’s positive features.

? In just the same way that researchers have created a balanced and healthy framework around human cloning, so this needs to be repeated for AI and similar technologies.

? AI industry leaders should launch multiple education forums for CEOs and IT Executives to attend as “duos,” so they both hear the same message. Such forums should be two-way communication events, rather than just listening to “sages on the stage.”?They will then allow for real “discovery” education rather than “show and tell” learning.

? All AI research should be monitored by industry experts, in the same way that the World Atomic Energy Commission monitors developments around nuclear fission.

? Focus should be placed on building an effective balance and partnership between AI technologies and humankind rather than one replacing the other. Without sensible collaboration, there’s high likelihood that our world will end up with similar disastrous worldwide conflicts that were experienced during the 20th century. (NOTE: Within the past year, I attended a major industry dinner to recognize the exceptional achievements of people within that industry. During the speech by a well-known union leader, he warned his many guests of the likely consequences if the industry sustains its drumbeat to replace people with automation.)

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Author, Peter A. Arthur-Smith, Founding Principal with Leadership Solutions, Inc., is based in New York, and author of Smart Decisions: Goodbye Problems, Hello Options. He has drafted a potential new publication about Enlightened Leadership that offers more than fifty fresh leadership concepts and practical models. Feel free to follow author at: Linkedin.com/in/peter-arthur-smith-2115722/?

? 2023 PAAS-LSI- All rights reserved.

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