AI Powered

There is little doubt about the growing significance that Artificial Intelligence is coming to hold in our lives.? ?AI is likely to impact almost every sector.

When one looks at sectors like food, healthcare, skincare, and clothing, “100% Organic” and “100% Natural” are perhaps the biggest buzz words of our times.? The notion that “organic” and “natural” are better is linked to a fallacy called the “Appeal to Nature”.??? It turns out that when something is labelled ‘natural’ it is desirable, morally acceptable, or simply good.? It has also extended to mean natural is ‘healthier’ and ‘safer’.??

“‘AI-powered’ is tech’s meaningless equivalent of ‘all natural.’”? – Devin Coldewey

The vagueness around terms in the AI ecosystem – the term “AI” itself to start with - creates misunderstanding in people.? What, and how, we all picture AI in our minds is therefore vast and varied.? It is important to remind ourselves that AI has been plagued by overpromises since its inception. Marvin Minsky was one of the original thinkers in the AI movement. In 1970 Minsky said that we would have artificial general intelligence (AGI, meaning human like intelligence) within three to eight years. Five decades later, we do not have AGI and there is no prediction of when we will have it.? These days some futurists are talking about ASI – artificial super intelligence - i.e., AI systems that possess capabilities that surpass the intelligence of the most gifted humans!?

In a 2023 interview with Rebecca Jarvis of ABC News, OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman told that "I am particularly worried that these models, could be used for large-scale disinformation. Now that they're getting better at writing computer code, could be used for offensive cyberattacks."? Altman went on to say during this interview that "There will be other people who don't put some of the safety limits that we put on. Society, I think, has a limited amount of time to figure out how to react to that, how to regulate that, how to handle it."

AI is rife in both hype and fraud.? Misleading claims about the capabilities of AI are rampant by the “hype super spreaders”.? Comparison with snake oil and snake oil sellers is often heard.? The term “snake oil” is used to describe any worthless pseudo-medical remedy promoted as a cure for multiple illnesses. By extension, a snake oil seller is a quack who sells such fraudulent goods knowing very well that their old tricks can catch new fools.

A right blend of algorithmic prowess, human insight and oversight could perhaps help forge the way forward for a beneficial and trustworthy AI adoption.

With AI moving at a rapid and dangerous pace, there is a pronounced need for standardized evaluation of AI capability.? Until that is fully in place, it is imperative for organizations and individuals who buy AI solutions to get a lot better in their understanding of aspects like the following:

• clearer understanding of terms like “generative AI”, “predictive AI”, “non-generative AI” etc.
• AI's capabilities
• AI's limitations
• the underlying technology set
• knowing deeper about AI model complexity, explainability, safety, security, regulatory and privacy needs
• knowing trade-offs in making the right AI solution choice
• recognizing the risks associated with AI
• knowing how to detect the right AI experts
• developing the ability to sense flawed AI claims and
• knowing how to keep out the “snake oil sellers”.

It is AI powered. Buyers beware.