I don't understand the point of AI

Cloud44 said:

Can anyone see the advantages? Rather than be dismissive of AI and shut it down, I'd like to learn from others and find out what they get out of it and maybe find something I am missing, or how it could benefit me.

AI can benefit us in so many ways that I'd struggle to offer any kind of reply that does them justice.

Just a couple of examples of everyday use at home include:

• How biometric security features (such as Apple's facial recognition system) provide convenient protection to phones and other devices.
• How my washing machine automatically works out and delivers the right detergent doses and washing times for each load.

In the healthcare sector, the scope for benefits is enormous; this recent press release explains how it can support independent living, for example:

GOV.UK - AI sensors on fridges and kettles helping vulnerable people to live independently

Other healthcare benefits can be found in screening (including analysing imaging / scan results). This project, for example, "has the potential to save more than 11,000 lives and save the NHS at least £660 million over 5 years" by providing clinical grade testing at home for people with certain conditions or risk factors:

NHS England - Healthy.io: Smartphone albuminuria urine self-testing

On a more personal level, I find it interesting - and sometimes helpful - to talk with AI chat bots (including for support with my mental health conditions).

Bunny the uses you've outlined fill me with horror, I want to choose how long I wash my clothes for, how much detergent to use and how hot the wash is. It's bad enough already with so many machines not having a hot wash option, and so many machines want you to use specific types of detergent, nearly all of which I'm allergic too, I think swapping more detergents for less electricity is a false economy too, does no one take into account the amount of energy used in the creation of laundry products.

I also don't want my fridge telling me what I should buy and least of all do I want it oredering my shopping for me. It might be great for some people with particular disabilities. I don't want biometric phones and stuff, what happens to all this data? Will my time be owned by a multinational company like apple?

I think that pushing automated systems at people with disabilities is ultimately lazy, it dosen't encourage real contact and people will end up having to accept stuff they don't want or be seen as being awkward and theres enough of that already.

Choice about all this bothers me too, we are increasingly having less and less choice and certainly the choice to not use these things is decreasing. No maps of places because everyone can use their phones to find things, having to pay for thing and order them via an app, even when in store! If I go to Llanduddno, which I try and avoid as much as possible, its like being taken to another planet and it's only 50 miles up the road! So many people who live here don't go there, despite it being where all the shops are, because they've no idea how to navigate the place, M&S cafe feels like the Starship Enterprise! Then you get the opposite of people comming here from other places who can't cope because they have to do things manually and theres no uber.

I also find lack of manned checkouts frustrating, I don't like the self service, I find it all stressful.

I also find lack of manned checkouts frustrating, I don't like the self service, I find it all stressful.