Artificial Intelligence (AI)

[Wymsey]

An excellent idea or a genuine threat to society?..

[leicsmac]

Short version: Both.

 

Long version: Later, if anyone wants to hear it.

[yorkie1999]

Like most things, it starts as a good idea and everyone sees the potential but it's gonna turn the world to shit.

 

[davieG]

Like most things the unscrupulous, criminal minded, good for nothing anything for a quick buck and egotistical power people will take advantage of it and use it in evil ways.

[Suzie the Fox]

[nnfox]

11 minutes ago, davieG said:

Like most things the unscrupulous, criminal minded, good for nothing anything for a quick buck and egotistical power people will take advantage of it and use it in evil ways.

It's already happening... One example being those scam emails that do the rounds that purport to be from a genuine company but is written by someone whose first language is clearly not English... Chat GPT is their new best friend.

 

And this is just the beginning.

[Wolfox]

It is both…. Clearly it’s going to have a huge impact…. 

If you imagine a hockey stick, we’re only just staring the curve up at the base of the stick…. It has the possibility to grow exponentially in ways we have not yet imagined…. More engagement = more training and it’s better performance…. Engagement is sky rocketing 

 

We need to have a plan on how to diversify the workforce to cope with the new world where AI will be prevalent and safeguard against its misuse 

 

I don’t think we should stand its way, but we should manage how we get there, as it has the possibility to be hugely beneficial….
 

The one sided media tripe of its  ‘Armageddon for jobs’ knocking on the door, is not ok in my view as it’s too limiting…

 

I have been looking at this very closely and have actually filed a patent this week (I invent stuff for a living)…. You can’t patent AI / ML, but I have worked out a way of how you can harness it that makes building much much safer with no loss of people’s jobs…. You see, it can be good!

 

Oh, and by the way, be careful when you or your kids are making decisions on potential future careers…. I’d swerve anything that has potential to be done by a ‘bot’

Edited 20 May 2023 by Wolfox

[Lionator]

There’s a risk of Armageddon if AI gets the nuclear codes.

[Countryfox]

Hello ..  my name is AIfox. 
Great thread Mr Wymes. 
Have a good day everybody. 

[davieG]

24 minutes ago, Wolfox said:

 

I don’t think we should stand its way, but we should manage how we get there, as it has the possibility to be hugely beneficial….

That needs to be a global action/agreement which I can't see happening with the volatile state of the world, Nations can be as unscrupulous and selfish as any single human can.

[Wolfox]

28 minutes ago, davieG said:

That needs to be a global action/agreement which I can't see happening with the volatile state of the world, Nations can be as unscrupulous and selfish as any single human can.

It’s possible at a local level too, but agreed, it should be on the agenda for the G7

[Miquel The Work Geordie]

I think it’s ****ing shit tbh and I hate the fact my profession is going to have to end up leaning into it substantially to survive. 
 

 

[Tuna]

Really uneasy about it.

[Steve_Guppy_Left_Foot]

Skynet only a matter of time. 

[foxy boxing]

Everyone expecting it to be like the Terminator or the Matrix! The fear obviously is putting AI in charge of nuclear weapons. Could it really lead to our extinction!.

[Miquel The Work Geordie]

33 minutes ago, foxy boxing said:

Everyone expecting it to be like the Terminator or the Matrix! The fear obviously is putting AI in charge of nuclear weapons. Could it really lead to our extinction!.

Everyone? 

[UniFox21]

Saw a news piece earlier that a group of headteachers had come together to release a report about how AI is the latest threat to children's education. 

Now whilst that may be true for those at higher levels, when many can't read, write or understand basic maths, i don't think they're going to be the biggest worry. 

 

But similarly, we need to stop just brandishing any new development as "scary" and actually use these advances to enhance student education and knowledge. 

 

[Beechey]

Perfectly happy with artificial intelligence. Speaking from experience (studied it for my PhD), I believe its use in things like facial recognition systems needs to be regulated, but other than it replacing some jobs, I otherwise fail to see why AI at its current state is scary.

Edited 20 May 2023 by Beechey

[leicsmac]

.Right....

 

The Good: AI has the potential to solve an extremely large number of problems that humanity has both now and in the future. Calculations and repetitive tasks, production of resources and oversight thereof that would be much more efficient than a human, solving complex logistical problems where a human could not...and that's just a very few of a multitude of potential uses. It has the potential to make this world so much better and render humans so much freer by giving them the most valuable resource of all - time.

 

The Bad: However, such utilisation is only as good or bad as the people who utlilise it, and therein lies a big problem - it can also be used to oppress and control in a way that no other civilisation has had at its fingertips until now, due to the sheer amount of elements it can be put in charge of. It can also be used to further inequality and thus civil unrest by putting a lot of creative artists out of jobs while furthering profit for those at the top who control it. The science fiction scenario of it being put in charge of weapons of mass destruction that are then used to destroy us is fanciful (because a decision to remove humans from such decision-making really isn't going to happen because everyone is aware of that exact trope), but it doesn't have to be that direct to cause a great deal of suffering to human civilisation.

 

So, overall, it's the same as any other tech development - dependent on the humans who control it - only on a much larger scale than tech developments in the past, even more than the steam engine or the Internet. We should embrace it, but we must also be damn careful.

Edited 20 May 2023 by leicsmac

[davieG]

On 20/05/2023 at 14:59, Beechey said:

Perfectly happy with artificial intelligence. Speaking from experience (studied it for my PhD), I believe its use in things like facial recognition systems needs to be regulated, but other than it replacing some jobs, I otherwise fail to see why AI at its current state is scary.

Well I'm sure someone will use it to find new ways off killing people.

[davieG]

 

 

By James Gallagher

Health and science correspondent

 

Scientists have used artificial intelligence (AI) to discover a new antibiotic that can kill a deadly species of superbug.

The AI helped narrow down thousands of potential chemicals to a handful that could be tested in the laboratory.

The result was a potent, experimental antibiotic called abaucin, which will need further tests before being used.

The researchers in Canada and the US say AI has the power to massively accelerate the discovery of new drugs.

It is the latest example of how the tools of artificial intelligence can be a revolutionary force in science and medicine.

[Jattdogg]

Needs to be banned for regular folk. Too much can and will go wrong

 

[Captain...]

53 minutes ago, davieG said:

 

 

By James Gallagher

Health and science correspondent

 

Scientists have used artificial intelligence (AI) to discover a new antibiotic that can kill a deadly species of superbug.

The AI helped narrow down thousands of potential chemicals to a handful that could be tested in the laboratory.

The result was a potent, experimental antibiotic called abaucin, which will need further tests before being used.

The researchers in Canada and the US say AI has the power to massively accelerate the discovery of new drugs.

It is the latest example of how the tools of artificial intelligence can be a revolutionary force in science and medicine.

I saw this earlier, what I'm curious about is how was it AI that did it and not a computer program? 

 

Was this a generic AI that was tasked with finding a new antibiotic? Or was a specific AI program that was given a load of inputs to create a series of outputs. 

 

I think there is a lot of things being called AI that are not true AI and are just targeted machine learning, which is still very impressive but a lot less scary.

[yorkie1999]

14 hours ago, Captain... said:

I saw this earlier, what I'm curious about is how was it AI that did it and not a computer program? 

 

Was this a generic AI that was tasked with finding a new antibiotic? Or was a specific AI program that was given a load of inputs to create a series of outputs. 

 

I think there is a lot of things being called AI that are not true AI and are just targeted machine learning, which is still very impressive but a lot less scary.

It's the new buzzword for technology.

[SpacedX]

15 hours ago, Captain... said:

 I think there is a lot of things being called AI that are not true AI and are just targeted machine learning, which is still very impressive but a lot less scary.

I agree that currently, the term AI is a misnomer. However it's the rate and acceleration of change that is so terrifying and the fact that ethically, we are being outpaced and the ramifications of this nascent technology for humankind aren't clear. When you have the pioneer of artificial neural networks Geoffrey Hinton stating that he no longer understands its complexities and what it is capable of, and those at the vanguard of AI calling for a moratorium on its development, that in itself is concerning.