I, Artificial Intelligence

 

By now, we’ve probably all heard about the advances in AI—Artificial Intelligence—most recently regarding the warnings about, roughly, this argument: If the computer has internet access to mountains of information and hundred-thousand times more data than many, many individual humans working together, and if it has the capacity to synthesize all this data in a millisecond, is human control over outcomes even possible?

I know, the very thought seems to say that when we humans think, evaluate and decide, that process is about electrical impulses being routed through synapses. We’d like our intelligence to be more god-like, more “ethereal” than “mechanical.” We’re not averse to imagining ourselves as possessing a spiritual quality that informs our intelligence, thereby motivating or restricting our actions based on empathy, sympathy, fairness, compassion … a moral sensibility, in other words. How can a living person be without that, and how can a material object come with that? And how can an intelligence that’s artificial (invented) ever be influenced by “feelings” of right/wrong, compassion/indifference, emotion/objectivity, etc., for instance?

A search engine called Bing is force-feeding a new advance in browsing that incorporates a number of AI features like voice recognition, etc., developments that have made “ask Siri” a commonplace feature of most smartphones and computers. “Ask me anything” pops up on the screen when you open Bing and it does a data search (using key-word recognition, I gather) and will answer the question by quoting a source, or—failing a satisfactory search—suggest an alternative way of finding an answer. 

I asked it, “What is the capital city of Mozambique?” It took about 10 seconds until a Wikipedia page on Maputo popped up and links to five other sources appeared as well, and the difference between asking a question and having a mountain of information appear compared to going to the library, finding a source there, etc., gave me an amazing speed and effort advantage.

The fact that George Epp asked for the name of Mozambique’s capital on May 11, 2023, immediately became data to be saved for future reference, sold to retailers, etc. Search “Outdoor fireplace” on any search engine and watch for ads on social media, even on your news app. This process is governed by man-made algorithms that run on their own; as AI improves, these computer-regulated processes will proliferate, will write themselves, probably, and the scope of their management by humans will be out of reach. Any algorithm, obviously, reflects its maker.

There’s a whole lot more to be said by the experts who have worked with the fine details. A website lists six potential problems that could arise as AI becomes more and more sophisticated. “These include invasion of personal data, risk of cyberattacks, discrimination and bias, opacity and lack of transparency, accountability of AI-driven decisions, and replacement of jobs and unemployment.”

If you’re like me, you feel a certain inevitability in the advances of technology. Madame Curie’s work on radiation beginning a march toward the nuclear bomb being but one example of how the material advances capitalism enabled also led to destructive ends in the hands of those who see each new invention as a gateway to wealth appropriation or enhanced power. AI will advance as long as it’s profitable, and we will marvel at the convenience and speed it lends to ordinary tasks … and we’ll buy and buy.

Or maybe, AI will be regulated so that, for instance, it’s number one, overriding rule is never to hurt a human. (Sci. Fi. writer, Isaac Asimov formulated the three cardinal rules for robots: “(1) a robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm; (2) a robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law; (3) a robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.”) Or maybe, it will be able to unravel the most effective combination of actions for mitigating the effects of climate change. Or maybe, it will become an invincible tool for diagnosing complex illness, even directing the scalpels that correct problems surgically, prescribe drugs with nary an error. And what if it could learn a better process for negotiating international relations, would actually map out a method for getting to yes in a given conflict?

 Would we come to ascribe an authority in AI that we've historically granted to the brilliant minds among us? Would we erect statues in its honour, give it a name like Baal or Zeus and worship it?

I think there’s a need to “proceed with caution,” don’t you? Also, please don't leave us with nothing to do, no thoughts worth thinking, no accountability for our actions.