Four AI Insights on where Society and AI is today

By Thomas B. Cross - Author of MindMeld - Merging Mental and Metal

1. Even with the explosive pace of technology, human endeavors in artificial intelligence are still very primitive. In a recent interview with Bill Gates on CBS, indicated that “reading text” much less understanding grammar in a meaningful way is years ahead of what he said then.  Few would argue that reading is not understanding much less doing anything and doing anything meaningful either.

2. The pace of the pursuit of human-made systems remains, for the most part, an extension of machines rather than an extension of human knowledge processing.  If this approach continues, there will be vastly sophisticated high-speed processing devices that will provide elegant simulations of real-world conditions. However, these conditions will parallel the real world rather than interact with it.

3. The development of new technology continues to outstrip society's ability to absorb its effects, much less its potential consequences. However, technology is like the extension of a rubber band stretched far ahead. While society is anchored in the past and holds the rubber band back, technological change stretches the rubber band ahead. The rubber band keeps getting stretched further until, sometime, it will break, splintering society into widely diverse factions. Everything from terrorism to pandemic health issues aka Covid-19/HIV/Flu/Zika is being impacted by the increasing rate of communication and the knowledge of underlying issues and would ability to solve one problem much less really complex ones.

4. With the acceleration of technology, the concept of artificial intelligence becomes an even more perplexing enigma. There have been business problems that have always existed: labor, working conditions, inventory, supply, climate change, economy, society, finance, and now there are many more issues, such as environmental impact, self-worth, social survival, diversity, racism, and personal development. That is, new problems are emerging daily and often totally unexpectedly, at the same time, they must merge with the old problems that originate with the presence of humans. That is, we cannot move ahead because of all the legacy society, belief systems, religion already in place.  Together with the needs of competitive advantage, new market demands, and global distribution, networks provide little opportunity for human-made systems to be up-to-the-moment much less look a day, week or years ahead. This doesn't make the study of artificial intelligence worthless. AI permits organizations to exist where none were possible before. Much as one 100-horsepower motor took the place of more than 100 workers in textile mills a century ago, AI will become the intelligent worker of the future. AI is also disease-free, tireless, without complaint and much more congenial than any human.

Pursuit of AI is without bound but sometimes stepping ahead we need to look back, not to hold us back but keep us from making bad decisions we have all too-often make again and again.

If you would like to know more and do more in AI, read my book on get my help in building an AI-based business and product strategy. Email me at [email protected]

-- “Simply put, MindMeld is the best business book on AI ever as business leaders also need business-focused thought leadership before they make really bad decisions on AI development and delivery.” R.S.

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