IS AI THE END OF US?

You can’t do anything without hearing about Artificial Intelligence (AI) currently, tech press, social media and mainstream news – they’re all full of it, every single day. Even Governments and the European Parliament are getting on the bandwagon, which in itself a bit worrying as Politicians know precious little about tech at the best of times – think about the Congress hearings with big tech CEOs.

Wherever you look AI is big news but is it going to take all the jobs? Enslave us? Be the end of humanity? Probably not but, getting past all the hype and Hollywood, AI is going to bring about profound change to society. If you’re an Amazon warehouse worker your boss is already an algorithm.

Artificial Intelligence is a term bandied about readily, a bit like ‘cloud’ was fifteen years ago. Every tech company has pivoted to include ‘AI’ in their pitch. And this is where the phrase itself is questionable.

John McCarthy of MIT coined the expression Artificial Intelligence in 1956, defining it as "the science and engineering of making intelligent machines”. The definition has had several updates over the years and the Oxford English Dictionary now defines AI as:

‘the theory and development of computer systems able to perform tasks normally requiring human intelligence, such as visual perception, speech recognition, decision-making, and translation between languages’.

That seems more like a definition for Machine Learning (ML) than AI. The distinction between the two isn’t that clear but maybe it’s using the word ‘intelligence’, which we perceive as more than its definition of ‘the ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills’. It implies?sentience?and that’s where AI gets really interesting.

We’re used to Siri and Alexa telling us things rather than us having to look at a browser but they don’t always get it right. Amazon suggests things to us we’ve just bought, which never seems too bright. And ChatGPT can write an article making logical arguments, statements and conclusions from prompts but it won’t offer wonderful creativity, suspense or character depth for your next novel. It does create better copy than many Marketers though.?

Dall.E, Midjourney and DreamStudio can create realistic images from text prompts. Deepfakes, Reface and Wombo can produce fake movies and there’s a whole host of AI music generator apps to produce songs in the style of sampled singers. I’m listening to AI: Grimes as I type this and the voice is almost indistinguishable to the real thing. Almost.

But this is just the consumer tip of the AI iceberg, with results generated from pre-scripted responses, which many experts term weak-AI or fake-AI. Most cutting edge AI development is below the public radar, in a wide range of industries including, e-commerce, banking, healthcare, policing and weaponry. Follow the money.

Amazon is investing significantly in AI warehouse automation. BT recently announced a phasing out of 10,000 jobs due to AI. A pilot programme run by Durham Constabulary, found the Harm Assessment Risk Tool (HART) was better overall at predicting re-offending rates than human custody sergeants.?The US military can now use AI to seek targets with UAV drones rather than operators for faster edge response and are focussed on neuralnet drone-swarm development.

In Mo Gawdat’s book ‘Scary Smart’ he describes his work at Google X and likens AI to teaching children. One that thing that really struck me was his story about teaching robots to pick up balls and the sequential creation of bots by builder bots to improve accuracy, like natural selection but hugely accelerated.??He said that the Developers had no idea how the bots learned.

Think about that for a second – ‘the Developers had no idea how the bots learned’.

If developing AI is like teaching children then what and how we’re teaching has to be a concern. The biggest efforts in AI are focussed on selling, killing and gambling, although the polite terms are ecommerce, defence and investment. Hence, we’re teaching AI through reward algorithms to sell more, kill more efficiently and avarice. Does this seem the best stuff to teach kids? Let’s hope that someone instils Asimov’s three laws at some point.

Elon Musk thinks that humanity will merge with machines in the near future, which is why he’s invested heavily in Neuralink to develop brain-computer interfaces. As Sci-Fi as this sounds it may help overcome lots of disabilities and barriers but he’s also been quite vocal on his opinion of AI, saying that it has the potential to “destroy civilisation”. Musk is a contradictory and controversial character, purposely so at times it seems.

James Barrat, author of ‘Our Final Invention’ makes a point about the current state of AI, “I don’t?want to scare you, but it was alarming how many people I talked to who are highly placed people in AI who have retreats that are sort of ‘bug out’ houses, to which they could flee if it all hits the fan.”

It's not all doom-mongers though, Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google, has a more optimistic view, saying that “AI is probably the most important thing humanity has ever worked on. I think of it as something more?profound than electricity or fire. Artificial Intelligence will save us not destroy us.”

Ray Kurzweil, ex-MIT Professor, Computer Scientist, Inventor and Author of ‘How to Create A Mind’ says “Artificial intelligence will reach human levels by around 2029. Follow that out further to, say, 2045, and we will have multiplied the intelligence – the human biological machine intelligence of our civilization – a billion-fold.”

Experts are divided on the one event in AI that may radically change things. ‘AI singularity’, or ‘superintelligence’, is predicted by many to happen before mid-century, where computers surpass human cognitive abilities and a new level of intelligence emerges.

Whether or not AI is truly sentient at that point might be irrelevant. It would have a profound impact on humanity, and could play out in a number of ways, utopian or dystopian.?

Three things are clear:

AI is happening.

We won’t stop it (we don’t even want to).

It will change things radically.

The ChatGPT article on the same subject follows. It's shorter than mine, maybe that's more succinct. Which do you prefer?

ChatGPT4 - IS AI THE END OF US?

The idea that AI will bring about the end of humanity is a topic of much speculation and debate. While there are differing opinions on the matter, it is important to approach this question with a balanced perspective.

Artificial Intelligence has the potential to bring about significant advancements and benefits to society. AI technologies have already revolutionized various industries, including healthcare, finance, transportation, and entertainment. They have the potential to enhance productivity, automate repetitive tasks, and assist in solving complex problems.

However, concerns about the potential negative impact of AI also exist. One common concern is the possibility of AI systems becoming super-intelligent and surpassing human capabilities, which could lead to unintended consequences. This scenario, often referred to as "technological singularity," is speculative and hypothetical. There is currently no consensus among experts about when or if such a situation might occur.

It's important to note that the development and deployment of AI systems are subject to human control and ethical considerations. Responsible AI research and development involves implementing safety measures, transparency, and robust regulations to ensure AI systems are developed in ways that align with human values and safeguard against unintended harm.

Rather than viewing AI as the end of humanity, it is more productive to focus on the responsible and ethical use of AI technology. By establishing guidelines, regulations, and ethical frameworks, we can harness the potential of AI while mitigating potential risks. The field of AI safety and ethics is an active area of research, and it is essential to continue exploring and addressing the challenges associated with AI development.

Ultimately, the impact of AI on humanity will depend on how we choose to develop, deploy, and govern these technologies. With careful planning and responsible practices, AI has the potential to significantly benefit society and improve our quality of life.