Saturday, October 7, 2023, 17:30
Artificial Intelligence, some call it AI for short, others call it machine learning, some say it’s simply a way to streamline efficiency in an ever growing world of consumption. In any case, it’s no secret we have been infiltrated by robots.
We were warned when Isaac Asimov said, “There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that ‘my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.”
George Orwell warned us in his chilling foreshadowing through his 1949 fictional novel titled 1984, “Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And the process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless Present in which the Party is always right.”
We have been warned by nearly every modern scholar of our time about the dangers of AI;
Elon musk said, “If you’re not concerned about AI safety, you should be. Vastly more risk than North Korea.”, and, “I think we should be very careful about artificial intelligence. If I were to guess, like, what our biggest existential threat is, it’s probably that.”
The late Stephen Hawking said, “The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race… It would take off on its own, and re-design itself at an ever increasing rate. Humans, who are limited by slow biological evolution, couldn’t compete, and would be superseded.”
Dave Waters, one of the most prolific minds in artificial intelligence development had this to say about it, his robotic baby, “Think about all the personal information that is in your phone and social media. Have you wondered if artificial intelligence is using that information to manipulate you? Wonder no more, AI is doing exactly that.”
AI through chat GPT had this to say about itself, “Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to be both beneficial and dangerous. While AI has the potential to improve many aspects of our lives and solve complex problems, it also has the potential to be misused or to have unintended consequences.
One potential risk of AI is that it could be used to automate tasks that currently require human labor, potentially leading to job displacement. AI could also be used to amplify existing biases or to make decisions that are unfair or discriminatory. In addition, AI systems that are not designed or regulated properly could potentially cause harm, either through accidents or through malicious use.” (https://www.supplychaintoday.com/quotes-threat-artificial-intelligence-dangers/)
I’d like to briefly take this back to Asimov, touted as the Father of Robotics, through his extensive philosophical and highly scientific research for his fictional series about robots in a dystopian future. Here are his ‘Three Laws of Robotics’;
- A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
- A robot must obey orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
- A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.
No, the laws of modern artificial intelligence are not exactly based on a fiction novel, but, then again, they kind of are. I’ll let you thumb through the Artificial Intelligence Bill of Rights yourself, keep in mind this is just a blueprint, technically, there are no rules regarding AI!!
Ok so, because in large part Asimov’s laws of robotics are the basis for robotics today, I have a question; does job displacement or replacement have a negative affect on a person? If so, is this not injuring the mind of a human being, thereby violating the first law of robotics?
Have you ever lost your job? Have you ever nailed an interview only to be told the company is switching to a more automated system? Has grammarly ever told you their AI can write better than you? Have you ever talked to someone online for hours only to learn that person is just a computer program? Does speaking to AI bots through the insurance company, cell phone provider, customer service center of virtually every company around, drive your blood pressure up to stroke level? Maybe you haven’t, but millions have, can you at least put yourself in their shoes for the sake of the article? (If no, you might be a robot.)
Like seriously, I said no. How can no be misconstrued as yes in any scenario? I asked for a representative why is this robot still speaking? I literally want to speak to Indian Kevin, or Zimbabwe Amber. AHHHHHH!!!!
The basic premise of AI hurts the very essence of our being on all facets.
What are you supposed to do about it you ask?
Stop teaching AI to be human! You don’t think you do, you say?
Every time you consult Siri or Google, because you were too cool for school, you are teaching AI about human interests, and which human interests are important to a given sample group at any given time.
Every time you post on social media about your dinner, or the same pose of you wearing a different outfit, or whatever other trivial thing no one truly cares about, you are teaching AI how to look and sound more human.
Every time you take your phone with you on your run, or take a joy ride around town, you are teaching AI how to move more like a human.
Every time you turn on the auto-pilot in your Tesla or use the automatic parking feature in some of the other car models, you are teaching AI how to perform human functions more efficiently.
Every time you use a smart device, you are teaching AI which functions of humanity are unimportant to you, allowing the AI to teach itself how to be better at those functions and where it can pick up the slack, making you less relevant in your own life, which drives the need for more automation as even the basic functions, like brushing our teeth become too laborious for us; if there’s not a pill for it, there’s a robot for it.
So how can you stop teaching AI how to learn to be a human? Simple, unsubscribe.
Recall the dewey decimal system, and head to the library to seek out the factoids that have escaped the tip of your tongue; tune out of the anti-social media; leave your phone at home when you go for a run; PARK YOUR CAR YOURSELF; boycott smart devices; check the ‘opt out of AI learning’ or ‘opt out of machine learning’ on the privacy statement. Let me guess you didn’t know you could do that? Well, start reading the privacy statements of the apps you download or the websites you visit.
Stop feeding content to AI, to sum it up.
Re-teach yourself how to do for yourself. Allow yourself to remember what it feels like to learn and see what a beautiful gift the ability to acquire knowledge is.
The line has become blurred, are we teaching AI to be more like us, or is AI teaching us to become AI-dependent, robots in our own world. You are the pertinent link in block chain; remember that.
Food for thought.
Don’t forget to wash your hands.
Talk soon.