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Artificial intelligence discussion

Lotus

Hi, I've just completed a short course on artificial intelligence. These are some things I learned:

Artificial intelligence is often thought of as scary robots, e.g. Terminator, but AI is used in computer systems to do things like suggest films or books you might like, based on your previous choices. It uses a range of technologies, from simple rule based systems such as " if this is true (or if this is false), then do this" to a complex 'neural net' that is a simplistic model of how the brain works, and can be trained (machine learning)

As well as being used on social media or shopping sites, AI can identify things such as tumour cells in a medical scan or identify galaxies in photographs or from space. Large language models can generate rich interesting text in any language and translate, restructure or re-phrase text. A related field is image generation, where brand new images are generated by the AI. 

In Soeul, AI mini robots were used in a pilot scheme to show senior citizens how to use technology such as smart phones, to enable them to better participate in society and help with preventing loneliness.

Youve probably heard of self driving cars. One accident that happened was a self driving car hitting a truck that pulled out in front of it at a junction in the city. This was because the AI had been trained to drive on a highway, not city streets, and the image of a truck it had been given was a view of the back of a truck. When it saw the side of the truck as it pulled out, it thought it was a road sign and so attempted to drive under it. The AI had no perception that the space under the truck was lower than the vehicle it was driving.

There are issues around ethics, inclusion and sustainability. For example, if AI is trained using data that is biased, the AI will acquire that bias. Although it can be used for facial recognition, it can sometimes struggle to determine gender and the darker the skin tone, the less accurate are the results. Training AI uses massive amounts of resources.

What are your thoughts?

And would you be comfortable having an AI robot in your home to help with tasks?

Parents

  • AI to my mind has a very specific definition. I remember in the early 2000's when I undertook my A Level in Computing, the defintion of AI was far tighter than it appears to be today. Of course back then, we were also taught to print off hard copies of our code, so I know that times have moved on somewhat!

    I still largely hold true the axoim that no computer program will ever be smarter or more intelligent than the developer(s). 

    The main problem I have with more modern attempts at AI is that they are largely built from questionable practices. I know for example that the books I have published were used in part of the libraries of information used to train a well known LLM. That is unquestionable an illegal use of copyrighted materials. Such systems then in my opinion simply should be shut down immediately. They were developed unethically and cannot be without bias and can never be used ethically.

    Similarly to that, let's imagine AI for self-driving cars. Are we as a society mature enough to have a conversation about the ethical choices that an AI driven car may have to make. Let's imagine the busy road. There is an accident ahead, a cyclist on in the lane to the right, and a pedestrian on the pavement to the left. The only way to protect the car is to swerve left or right. What level of decision making are we as a society comfortable with. Do we program these vehicles to always endanger the pedestrians? The cyclist? Or do we program them to destroy themselves and compound the accident ahead?

    I don't think society in the UK, USA, or Europe is mature enough or tech aware enough to make that choice well. 

    AI - of any stripe, must be developed according to incredibly high ethical standards. Standards that are applied to few, if any companies in the western world today. As a result, I don't believe that human civilisation is capable of utilising such technology and this I would rather have it banned entirely.

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