It’s been 30 years since the World Wide Web was released to the public. At that time, listeners tuning into Morning Edition heard about a futuristic idea that could profoundly change their lives. "Imagine being able to communicate at-will with 10 million people all over the world," NPR's Neal Conan said. "Imagine having direct access to catalogs of hundreds of libraries as well as the most up-to-date news, business and weather reports. Imagine being able to get medical advice or gardening advice immediately from any number of experts. This is not a dream," he continued. "It's internet."
The internet has become an integral part of our lives. Whether it’s sourcing information for a school essay, purchasing products from Amazon, or watching a movie on Netflix, there are many benefits to our lives because of the internet: it has put the world at our fingertips. However, we are all still grappling with how to use it in healthy and productive ways. Whether it’s too much screen time, disturbing content, or algorithms that lead us down rabbit holes of misinformation, many of us have not found the right life balance with the internet.
And now, to add to the fray, we’re rapidly developing and entering an era of Artificial Intelligence (AI). AI systems are able to ingest massive amounts of training data and analyze it for correlations and patterns to make predictions about future states. This makes AI a potentially very powerful tool for positive things like helping us cure cancer or find solutions for climate change. However, many fear that this same tool can be used in very harmful ways.
This past week, Geoffrey Hinton, who has been called the ‘Godfather of AI’, left his role at Google so he can freely speak out about the potential dangers. He is concerned that AI’s current progression will be detrimental to our current society as no one truly knows the extent of what it’s capable of. Additionally, there is a competition between companies creating AI, where the aim is to release and improve the software in order to outcompete other organizations. The downside to this is the sacrifice of time and testing put into place in order to prioritize speed.
“It is hard to see how you can prevent the bad actors from using it for bad things,” Hinton said in an interview with The New York Times. “The idea that this stuff could actually get smarter than people — a few people believed that.” Many thought that this new era of technology wouldn’t be around for another half century, yet it is already being incorporated into our lives. While the theory of AI growing to be smarter than humans is merely theoretical, there are still more current issues at hand, such as job loss and privacy concerns, along with large amounts of misinformation on the internet – how will we be able to determine what is real and what is created by AI?
https://www.npr.org/2023/04/30/1172276538/world-wide-web-internet-anniversary
https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/01/tech/geoffrey-hinton-leaves-google-ai-fears/index.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/01/technology/ai-google-chatbot-engineer-quits-hinton.html
9 comments:
I believe that the increase in the AI boom is akin to the initial launching of the internet. While we are in the preliminary moments of AI incorporation, we don't know the full extent of what our lives will look like with AI. Additionally, while there are a myriad of risks involved, especially with the competitive aspects of companies that Zoe brought up, it might be necessary for the government to step in and provide some sort of regulation in terms of what types of AI can be available to the public, and it which ways is it being used.
I think that with the introduction of any sort of new technology, there is always going to be fear and hesitation about what type of impact it will have. I think that AI is no different, and that AI has the potential to be incredibly useful in our everyday lives. There will definitely be the possibility that AI could become dangerous and harm us, but determining what role AI will play will be up to us.
Honestly as much as AI helps humans, it puts everyone in a weird situation. With AI models such as ChatGPT, it can generate code, answers to homework questions, and even a whole essay. Not to mention the fact that recently, there has been AI that can copy voices to actors or singers and produce their own music. While some jobs such as data science rely on machine learning, most jobs will be put down as AI is always learning. It isn't something that is programming to do a certain task but rather it is placed to adapt and learn so that it is future proof. If educated people come out and warn people about AI, it is worth the listen because most likely, AI will do more harm than good.
Although there are so many unknowns when it comes to AI because of how new it is, there have already been so many positives that have come out of it. It’s been really useful for me personally, because I have used AI to help me study or give me advice even (even though it was a little strange). Even though there is so much more to be discovered when it comes to what AI is capable of, so far it has been really cool learning about AI and the new things the internet can do.
I feel that the positives of artificial intelligence are heavily outweighed by the negatives. Yeah, it can help get those with a creative side to work on art and those that need to study with it, but what happened to regular art? Why do we need computerized paintings that anyone could make when much more talent and expertise goes into painting an actual painting. AI is the final step in ruining the old U.S. and even world tendency for children to be what their parents are. Also, everyone that doesn't use AI in school is so much further behind in GPA ad intelligence because the teachers assume that everyone is cheating instead of becoming better educators.
I feel like the future of AI is very unclear at the moment. While there are many positive possibilities, such as eliminating factory labor, notoriously known for unethical and dangerous practices. There also is the matter of replicating art and essays which is dangerous for creatives and students alike. If AI continues to develop, I hope there will be restrictions placed on this powerful tool so that it is one for good, and not used to eliminate the production of original works of art, deterring those from pursuing it.
On one hand, AI has the potential to bring about positive change, such as aiding in medical advancements or tackling climate change. But on the other hand, there are legitimate concerns about the potential dangers and ethical implications associated with its development and use. Hinton's concerns about AI being used for malicious purposes and the potential for AI to surpass human intelligence raise important ethical and societal questions. How do we prevent bad actors from utilizing AI for harmful ends? How do we ensure that AI systems are developed and deployed in a manner that aligns with our values and safeguards our privacy? Ultimately, I believe this is a revolution that can only be destroyed through its exploitation by humans.
I think the progression of AI has been interesting to witness, however, I do think that it will reach a point where it will be causing more harm than good. In class we’ve discussed both the pros and cons of this new technology, describing how it can complete certain tasks with higher productivity and at times, accuracy than humans. Conversely, this technology poses a threat to human jobs. When you walk into a doctor's office, most people will agree they are comforted by the human interaction they encounter. If AI were to control medical centers, patients would lack the emotional support given by doctors, making this experience uncomfortable. Furthermore, AI would threaten individuals currently employed as their job could easily be replaced by this form of technology. While I understand the desire and curiosity that accompanies artificial intelligence, given corporations' negative and cautious reactions, it is best to fully understand the consequences of this new technology before completely immersing it into society.
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