Tuesday, January 14, 2020

Walker-Elders B1

Many people are scared of the possibilities and predictions of AI. Specifically "true" AI, meaning an artificial intelligence that can process problems for itself and make decisions based on the program it is designed with, to simulate a live conscious. Luciano Floridi argues that this prediction of AI, although not necessarily impossible is completely implausible because despite the possibility of an AI miraculous breakthrough, it is not logical to assume that this is going to necessarily happen (or happen in our lifetime, at the very least). I understand his skepticism on this a great deal, it feels like every day we, as a society, grow more and more deeply concerned by the looming threat of autonomous beings taking over civilization, forcing humanity into indentured servitude, or whatever other apocalyptic science fiction is hitting the box office that week, and it feels so imminent and like it could possibly happen tomorrow. Whereas in actuality, I can't even get my Alexa to stop calling me "Mathew". I understand that pocket and household AI aren't at the forefront of breakthrough technology, but I don't think that the robotic revolution is the imminent threat humans should be worried about.

This being said, I do think that given time, money and opportunity, a level of AI that can for all intents and purposes think and speak for itself is not so implausible. While this is clearly not an immediate threat we are facing, I think there is a lot of ambition in this industry to make completely autonomous androids, and so eventually, they will come to be. Even now, we use artificial intelligence in our homes and incorporate their sensing capabilities to think for themselves and adapt to different conditions. An example of this is Keen Home's recent product, an air vent that is automated and senses when they need to be open or closed, these conditions are also editable from an app, but Keen is working towards a completely automated system.

These devices are working their way into our lives in almost every way, from self-driving cars to air vents that can adjust to different conditions, to Alexa's and Google homes practically becoming personal assistants in-house, I do not believe that AI will take over the world anytime soon, but I don't think the idea is as implausible as it may seem.




Floridi, Luciano. “True AI Is Both Logically Possible and Utterly Implausible – Luciano Floridi: Aeon Essays.” Aeon, Aeon, 14 Jan. 2020, https://aeon.co/essays/true-ai-is-both-logically-possible-and-utterly-implausible?comment_id=10148.

Rhodes, Margaret. “The Brilliant Air Vents You Never Knew You Needed.” Wired, Conde Nast, 3 June 2017, https://www.wired.com/2015/01/brilliant-air-vents-never-knew-needed/.

Brian:

I really like your review of the article on farming. I grew up in a small, agriculturally driven state, I wonder if these AI growing machines will be accessible to farmers who run smaller farms that maybe only serve the community around them? Or if these technologies will be reserved for large companies who will be willing to pay a premium. Either way, I think any technology that can be developed to help those who work in a hard labor career, is definitely welcome, especially considering the important role that farming serves.




Dane,

I, like many others, don't really think about all the information I am sharing with large tech companies like Apple, Amazon, or Google, but become uncomfortable when I think about it. From banking, to location, to personal preferences, if someone were able to hack into any of those three companies, they would pretty much know all there is to know about me. I don't know at what point we will choose personal safety over the convenience these companies provide. I will personally probably continue to trust this until my data is breached, and my information is compromised.



Isabel,

I thought it was interesting to think back to when 3D printing was something that was so coveted and niche, and certainly big, industrial 3D printers are still very expensive and high-performing. But a lot of 3D printing has become almost pedestrian, where people can buy small 3D printers to sit in their houses and tinker with, not realizing the huge step that this is in creating something from nothing. I wonder if, in the future, individuals would be able to print their own houses, or at least their own building materials.


4 comments:

Liam Ossenfort said...

I personally do a see a future in AI, but I agree with your statement of "I don't think that the robotic revolution is the imminent threat humans should be worried about." You mention "household AI" items often, but i don't think this is where the fear comes from, the real fear comes from the autonomous technologies that will have the potential to make humans irrelevant in the workforce. I agree that household AI is making its presence more and more clear in our lives, but I believe that is a good thing because it trains us to be more accepting of new emerging technologies

Jake Hall said...

I agree that no one should be anti-technology because they fear a takeover but it is a very real thought. The people who are developing this type of technology need to be well aware of the powers of this and keep it into consideration and I believe all the frontrunners of this development are well aware and consider all that. I don't know if it is unreasonable to think in our lifetime we will see a conscious AI.

Brian Mynaugh said...

Hey Madeleine,

It seems that the AI take over is upon us. But in all seriousness, your post caught my eye in that how our society's outlook to artificial and like mine are cautious in how AI is developing over the last few years. It first started with the general public when Siri came out with Apple's iPhone. I know this is technically a Voice Assistant, but when people think of AI, they tend to see Alexa and Siri as prominent examples. As I posted on other's blogs that it is pretty scary of what information and be collected from them, and in turn, we are becoming dependent on this ease of access.

cory said...

Hello Maddie

I personally feel that the invention of AI is particularly scary. If humanity is capable of creating an intelligence greater than that of its creator then it would stand to reason that the intelligence would then be capable of creating an intelligence that exceeds it, leading to each iteration of the AI being smarter and smarter. Furthermore I feel that there is no way to predict how the AI will behave. Furthermore, leading smart people have spoken about the potential dangers of AI. I do think the technology is "neat" but ultimately I would lobby for caution when creating an intelligence that has access to the sum total of human knowledge as it might seek things that are not to the benefit of humanity.