Sta Hungry Stay Foolish

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

A blog by Leon Oudejans

Why would I need or want AI??

Late August, Google invited me to start using Bard (for Local Guides) as I sometimes write reviews. I ignored their invitation. I have no clue why I would need and/or want Artificial Intelligence (AI) for my writing. I do, however, believe in AI for business-to-business (B2B) and even B2C purposes, like AI-4-GP.

I had forgotten about this topic until the Washington Post published a recent article with this subtitle: “Tech companies seem to be ignoring an essential question: What is all this AI for, anyway?” Indeed. The WaPo article gives 3 reasons for its essential question:

  • “Problem one: AI that doesn’t work very well”
  • “Problem two: Who is this technology for?”
  • “Problem three: Overpromising what AI can do”

Moreover, I refuse to embrace AI, including the internet of things (eg, Alexa, Google Assistant, Siri).

My reason is simple: everything that is connected to the internet can be hacked (eg, electricity meter).

Nevertheless, I might be fighting a lost war following a recent article in The Wall Street Journal:

“Why You Soon Won’t Be Able to Avoid AI — At Work or At Home Tech giants are racing to incorporate artificial intelligence into almost every aspect of their businesses, aiming to make AI indispensable for some—and unavoidable for the rest of us”

Title and subtitle of recent Wall Street Journal article

Notwithstanding the above, I do believe in AI, if only given our (future) demographics in which the demand for jobs will exceed the supply of human labour. Together, AI & robotics will present a solution. In my view, it’s the next phase of the Technological Revolution of 1800-2100. See my 2021 diagram:

Source: my 2021 blog Mechanization, Automation, AI & Robotics

The end result in my 2021 diagram above is humanoid sapiens. It’s increasingly unlikely that humans can survive extensive space travel (eg, crewed Mars mission plans). The health impact of extensive space travel would be (too) devastating (eg, BBC-2023-09, Scientific American-2023-10)

Most likely, companies are as confused about AI as we are as individuals. Through their AI efforts, companies hope to find a so-called killer application, “any software that is so necessary or desirable that it proves the core value of some larger technology”, like the ‘iPhone of artificial intelligence’.

“Machine intelligence is the last invention that humanity will ever need to make.” (Nick Bostrom, 2015 TED Talk)
which is based on this much older quote according to Quote Investigator:
“Thus the first ultraintelligent machine is the last invention that man need ever make, provided that the machine is docile enough to tell us how to keep it under control.” (Irving John Good, from his 1965 article Speculations Concerning the First Ultraintelligent Machine)

Land of Confusion (1986) by Genesis
band, lyrics, video, Wiki-band, Wiki-song

[Pre-Chorus]
There’s too many men, too many people
Making too many problems
And not much love to go round
Can’t you see this is a land of confusion?

Note: all markings (bolditalicunderlining) by LO unless in quotes or stated otherwise.

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