Artificial Dummies
Artificial intelligence is creating a world filled with artificial dummies.
There is an old familiar saying, “Use it or lose it.”? It applies to both physical and mental skills.? If we do not exercise our bodies, we become physically weaker.? If we do not use our minds, our mental skills atrophy.?
I am good with numbers and do many calculations in my head.? I have developed all kinds of mental tricks to help me calculate answers. If I were not continually using them, I am sure I would forget about them and lose much of that skill.
One of mankind’s greatest achievements was the invention of tools.? We use these tools to facilitate or substitute for mental and physical processes.? Those tools affected how people evolved.? Once we had a knife, we no longer had to chew things apart and mankind ended up with smaller jaws. The development of tools that we could use to protect ourselves from predators meant we no longer had to live above the ground in trees.? When that happened, we moved to the ground and our arms and hands became smaller.
Artificial intelligence is a wonderful tool.? It enhances our mental ability but also substitutes for it. If it provides me with answers, I no longer must remember things.? Google Maps is such a wonderful service that I have forgotten how to get to many places and now rely on it to direct me.
So, if I use artificial intelligence to remember, reason, read, spell, shop, interact with others, and compute for me, I will begin to lose those skills.? In a politically incorrect world, we would refer to someone who did not possess those skills as a dummy.
We are just beginning to see how use of the internet affects our skills.? During Covid, many of us substituted face-to-face interactions for interactions in virtual space.? There is now a growing concern that many members of Gen Z find face-to-face interactions difficult and challenging.[1]? They have lost the skill.
We often become so mesmerized by new technologies that we overlook or fail to comprehend their negative side effects.? If one does an internet search on the biggest risks associated with artificial intelligence, he will find things like the lack of transparency, bias and discrimination, privacy concerns, etc.[2]? But I have found no mention of the fact that it undermines human intelligence.
If we wish to avoid becoming an artificial dummy, we should use AI to enhance our intelligence rather than substitute for it.? Rather than asking AI for advice, we should use it to seek out information.? We should process that information and make decisions about what to do rather than relying on AI to tell us.
There are many situations in which AI has access to information we do not have and is in a better position to make decisions for us. Since AI systems have access to traffic information, they are in an excellent position to advise us on the fastest way to get from point A to B. ?
There are also situations in which the problem is so complex and the amount of data so voluminous that only a computer can find the solution.? But those are not the types of problems most humans face in everyday life.?
So if you want to avoid becoming an artificial dummy use AI to get you the information you need rather than a substitute for your brain and its ability to reason.? That is the best way to avoid becoming an artificial dummy.
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William, thanks for sharing!