Dangers of relying on AI

[Hell Razor5543]

I have just seen a 'Jimmy Fallon' interview where they are discussing AI. The interviewee (don't know who he is) says this;

"If I got this right, we're smart enough to invent AI, dumb enough to need it, and so stupid we can't figure out if we did the right thing".

[mickthemaverick]

In my personal opinion AI is the worst development for the human race since gunpowder, and we all know what came after gunpowder!!

[myglaren]

I have just seen a 'Jimmy Fallon' interview where they are discussing AI. The interviewee (don't know who he is) says this;

"If I got this right, we're smart enough to invent AI, dumb enough to need it, and so stupid we can't figure out if we did the right thing".

[bobins]

I've discovered that younger members of your family will stare at you like you've just walked off Noah's Ark, if you slate anything modern, like AI. They're so accepting of any form of technology without question or cynicism. That in itself scares me!

There appears to be a collective innocence that doesn't fully appreciate that AI is the next "Nuclear weapon". Sure, it can be used to advance our lives and help the world, but just take a good look at who's running the show! Currently, is there a world leader, Prime Minister or other leader, that you truly admire? We often laughed at Ronald Reagan, but together with Gorbachev, he created an atmosphere that kept us alive.

I think part of the trouble is that things have moved on since we were young and we're now embracing that brave new world In the olden days, we could be relatively sure of a few things - tomorrow would be mostly like today, countries towrds the east were generally 'bad', those towards the west were 'good' and we could rely on them. Although you you may not have a job for life - you could be relatively sure you could pick up another meaningful one at some point. The 'news' was relatively sane and you could rely on the various media outlets to feed a you sensible stuff. Life was a little bit predictable. I could go on.

Compare that with today - there is precious little certainty about anything, be it the UK government, international governments, whether the company you work for will exist tomorrow - let alone whether you'll have a job, whether the news feed you take is even true, let alone whether it's balanced.

What does a young'un of today see ? They see there's not much point having a long term plan as everything can change in an instant. They see that much of what they consume is carefully curated and aimed specifically at them - be it advertising or news or entertainment. They know they're being 'guided' in their everyday life, but there's precious little point kicking against it as that'll lead to a lonely time.
Welcome to the future

[CitroJim]

This is turning into a very interesting thread. I'm enjoying it immensely...

Never store anything on the cloud you can't do without.
Never send a private text or email you don't want the world to read.
Never click links on incoming emails.
Always get a second opinion on advice you get from the internet (except here of course !)

Absolutely my policy and to date and for many years it's served me well. I will add to that list to have a very good, proved backup strategy and a deep distrust in what AI tries to tell you. I see posts on Facebook that are clearly AI generated and are pertinent to my profession; in the vast majority of cases they are downright incorrect and frequently dangerously incorrect.

When doing something like simplifying algebraic expressions she can handle the necessary manipulations but when it gets down to evaluating 9x² where x = 3 she needs the calculator!

I'm happy to say I managed that in an instant Mick, without recourse to any aids The old brain still works - a bit

My three year old granddaughter is well into simple maths. Her pre-school and parents are doing a great job of laying good foundations so that's good.

I have no fear for the future; the considerable time I spend with the younger generation tell me they'll see all will be good and what we're currently experiencing is just a phase we're going though.

[ekjdm14]

So, I'm waiting to be swept off my feet with hope and joy about the future of AI, but when certain wealthy tycoons are building "Armageddon proof bunkers" under their mansions, I remain cynical.

At risk of sounding like a member of the tin-foil hat brigade, I'm beginning to wonder if the Terminator franchise of films are not so much a great/good then fading set of movies and rather more prophetic...

[bobins]

I've often thought you could make a good TV programme examining which of the dystopian novels and films actually contained elements that have come true

Fahrenheit 451, for starters - the TV shows people watched but were also in, and listening in using Seashells, or to us, earbuds...... social media and Youtube anyone? And 200ft long billboards so drivers could see them - like that huge one at Heathrow. Right at the end the guy walking on his own is an expendable weirdo, why isn't he watching the TV and in the TV show like normal people.

[Argos69]

Dare I admit to watching "The Matrix" again the other week? Jeeze, it's all just a "step" away......

The tin foil hat brigade may be the last people standing. Long distance destructive lasers and HERF weapons are already here, so a layer (or two!) of Bacofoil might keep you alive.

I do have some faith in young people. We live in the middle of the French countryside and our nearest neighbour is a lady farmer a mile or so away. Her English is slightly better than our French. She invited us over for dinner. She said her young daughter was visiting, who speaks several languages and would "interpret" whenever we all got stuck. Great. We went over and met the young lady. She was bright, well educated and interesting. We discussed everything from farming to the state of the world and everybody's politics. She left me in no doubt that she was nobody's fool and knew what was what. Quite heartening, really.

Maths? Now, here I must confess. I have a technical brain that has enabled me to come up with ideas for, design and sort complex electronic systems in nuclear situations and in the distant past, have been involved with pointy things that could have ended up being fired into the air if things went pear shaped. But.... I am absolutely sh!t at formal maths exercises on paper! I always have been and I always will be! I think I was officially "stupid" at school. "9x-whatever" is lost on me, but I come up with ways of making things work and understand electricity, ballistics and windage.

Do terminators worry me? Of course, but I reckon the first "over the air" software upgrade will f@ck them up. Failing that, we can just shoot them while they're all queued up beside one of the few working charging points.

Can you imagine if everybody could simply "get on" and stop hovering over the Self Destruct button? We'd probably be on the way to Mars now and AI would be helping us with the mundane stuff, like my French tax return!

Like CitroJim, I'm loving this thread!

[Vic Evans]

+1 for dinner with the locals.
23 years here & every day is still a school day.

[bobins]

I have no fear for the future; the considerable time I spend with the younger generation tell me they'll see all will be good and what we're currently experiencing is just a phase we're going though.

A couple of thoughts spring to mind with that....
If they're young enough, then they've not experienced anything alternative so don't have much to compare with.
I'm not sure if what we're experiencing is temporary and things will change, what will happen though is that we'll all become inured to all the new tech and ways of living and so won't resist it. The phase we're going through is the 'resistance' phase to the new tech, and in due course the new phase will be the acceptance phase....... and then all will be good again

[CitroJim]

Youngsters of all ages Bobins

[myglaren]

While it is completely fictional, there was an interesting take on the use of AI in social media to stir up discontent leading to murder. "Silent Witness", series 29 "The Enemy Within".

[Paul-R]

AAAARGH - spoiler alert. I haven't watched part 2 yet.

[myglaren]

It was fairly obvious from early in the first part.

But, sorry

[Paul-R]

I was just having a bit of fun as I had also picked up the heavy hints in the first part. Worry not.