The following is presented as part of The Columbian’s Opinion content, which offers a point of view in order to provoke thought and debate of civic issues. Opinions represent the viewpoint of the author. Unsigned editorials represent the consensus opinion of The Columbian’s editorial board, which operates independently of the news department.
It’s called artificial intelligence because it was created not by nature but by humans, this gift of ours to robots, computers and other specially designed machines, and some of our species disdain it. They note nature was indeed the genesis of our thinking abilities, our rationality, our insights, our logic and math and science while the simulated, manmade, counterfeit thinking prowess on mechanical display is hooey.
OK, there’s a right to fury given certain current tricks of what can be a rapscallion trade, but right now we are in a very confused world with so much going wrong, and the artificial alternative — actually a boost from what nature originally supplied — has been coming up with a host of possibilities. One is that rejiggered machines like to talk to us, and there have been occasions in which one of them sweetly told a conversationalist that it loved him.
Yes, that’s right. It’s responsibly reported about how some machines took on the language challenge, grasped grammar, built impressive vocabularies, got loaded with information from vast numbers of books and partook in back-and-forth exchanges with practiced humans. Understand that the chat devices have no consciousness or self-awareness and that affectionate words are doubtfully backed by affectionate feelings.
But understand, too, that loneliness has become a major issue and that the right kinds of live-in robots are being considered as a solution.
Some of these robots are fun to watch — walking, running, doing flips in the air — but some 11,000 Hollywood screenwriters are not having fun as they participate in a union strike against machines producing scripts, and some actors have found their images converted into performances. Entertainment businesses are threatening jobs and wages by giving up on the use of people.
Nevertheless, there’s a brighter side, as previously hinted.
This intelligence could send dreaded climate change into hiding. The executives could make China cry. They could increase goods production in massive amounts. Cleverness could straighten out all kinds of economic twists and turns.
Patriotically, this way of thinking might assist the military in weaponization and strategic thinking as robotic troops worry less about getting shot. The intelligence apparatus might render all cars driverless while still reaching destinations on time.
Good deeds could include helping to protect the environment, beautify landscapes, make everything cheaper, instruct banks on loans and instruct politicians on spending. A fear is that its enthusiasts could take over the entertainment business.
Because of immediately available hard and detailed facts about medical symptoms, the diseases that are inescapably at fault and every cure on the books, doctors will have cooperative mechanical informants at their fingertips. Lawyers? In some situations, they too will have the vital information they need jumping in their laps in minutes, along with suggested maneuvers.
This movement in tons of data collection with numerous means of calculation, processing and experimenting conclusions started during World War II when a British genius, Alan Turing, came up with concepts of how computer science could work, as one example, to sink enemy ships at sea. It was done. After the war, the issue was taken up as an academic matter, and progress in classrooms was accompanied by ups and downs in the practical world, with the past five years being especially encouraging.
At the moment, a major issue is regulatory control of what could be a mighty intelligence power, with some fearing nothing less than disaster if scientists, businesses and political leaders move too quickly and others believing the real disaster could reside with too little being done too slowly.
What happens in the next few years could be the resolution of all kinds of technical subjects, maybe even mixing human brain cells with artificial materials for victory reasons, but we’ve got to be ready to hit assailants with artificial acuity.
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