Intro
AI is moving fast…maybe a little too fast. We’ve been watching it reshape everything from how we work, to how we write emails (and maybe even how we think). And even though we come from different generations, we do agree there’s a lot to unpack.
So let’s talk through what’s keeping us up at night when it comes to AI. Not to panic (well, maybe just a little), but to ask real questions and make sense of the noise.
Deborah
Artificial Intelligence…. Where do I begin? When I hear this term I think of aliens, something you find in science fiction. When I talk about Aliens I don’t mean as in “illegal” alien either. I’m not quite sure when we started calling illegal immigrants aliens but when I grew up we referred to aliens as extraterrestrials…something or someone not from this world. They were not people who came into this country illegally.
AI- the ability of a digital computer or computer-controlled robot to perform tasks commonly associated with intelligent beings. I’m pretty sure my uncomfortable feelings towards AI comes from movies that I have seen where AI takes over, ie Space Odyssey, The Terminator and the Matrix.. Although I may already have a bias I try to be someone who is open minded. But I honestly struggle with this phenomenon that has crept in on our lives and appears here to stay.
Maybe I’m just old and have difficulty adapting to new ideas and technological advancement, but I don’t think so. I embraced computers, cell phones, rumbas, ring cameras, Alexa *& Siri (they do annoy me though); I can see how life has been made easier with these advancements. It just seems the pace has accelerated to warp speed. And honestly, it frightens me.
I know it’s most likely due to the movies and the eluding to the demise of humankind. But you cannot deny it is a possibility. Things we never thought possible have become realities. Don’t get me wrong I think it has enormous benefits but at what cost? Loss of jobs, intimacy, privacy, control, and life?
Some uses appear to have enormous benefits such as in the medical field. The ability to diagnose illnesses without the fear of overlooking something vital to me is a win win. I see no downside here. Human error is probably one of the leading causes of death. Ok, per AI the stat exactly is as follows: Medical errors are estimated to cause approximately 251,000 deaths annually in the U.S., making them the third leading cause of death, following heart disease and cancer. Medical performance and diagnostics without emotion is better than a second opinion, in my opinion anyway…
To be able to have information at your fingertips seems to be something that appears on its face to have no downside. I certainly would have thought so but that has been quickly dispelled. There is no way to know if the information is accurate or manufactured based upon who is responsible for disseminating it. All quite sad. And how many of us have fallen prey to a false video? You have to scrutinize and stare at it for so long and even then you cannot tell sometimes. These things should alarm us all and worry the hell out of us. And not just for us but more so for our future generations.
There are too many what “ifs” in my mind.. As much as I am in support of innovation I cannot deny my tredipidation. We live in a world where morality is so compromised. We seem to have lost how to determine when our intelligence is leading us in the wrong direction. AI may be a good tool but I fear our greed will blind us as is evidenced by our erosion of trust in most things. I can only pray our innate intelligence can temper the artificial beast unleashed.
Natalie
There’s a certain type of anxiety I have always felt over concepts I can’t fully grasp, most of which are usually in the astrophysics realm. I find anything without a clear end point to be particularly unsettling. Artificial Intelligence is my newest cause for alarm. “Newest” is probably the wrong word, the idea and implication of artificial intelligence isn’t a new concept. However, its presence in all of our lives seems to be growing exponentially.
While some of these feelings I’m sure are rooted in my own ignorance, I lean towards the thought that AI is doing more harm than good. A few months back I remember watching a community discuss the environmental impacts after an AI Data Center was built next to their homes. It felt like hearing another Erin Brockovich PG&E type lawsuit in real time. While I know the argument is on a macro level, AI will hopefully be able to make energy use and grid management more efficient. At least help us to innovate out of our environmental crisis; the current issues of water consumption and the electronic race are still very material consequences for us right now.
There’s also something that just feels diminishing to the human spirit about the growing use of AI to me. During a drive through recently, instead of a cashier taking my order it was an AI model. While human error can be frustrating, I also hate any “chat assist” or “say XYZ/automated bots”. It seems AI is being pushed into any and all fields. Even my own employer, a social work agency, has developed a committee on ways to utilize AI in client care. The questions around the ethics are plenty.
I truly don’t know what the real net gain for our society is with jobs being replaced by AI. Efficiency is an obvious plus but more unemployment? We will carry that burden somewhere. Give it long enough and maybe people will only be pushed into greater skills and career paths that are present because of AI?
I can’t imagine being a teacher or professor right now, trying to develop and defend most curriculum. I remember being in high school asking “why do I need to know this?” and that was without today’s AI at my finger tips. Then again, maybe the presence of AI will shift the priorities of our education in a needed way. Can AI teach critical thinking, communication, and many of the other skills we know we need to be successful. This could be a time where we move away from assessments of memorization, short answer essays, and plenty of other standardized practices that many argue never really demonstrated “intelligence” any way.
How do we really define intelligence? Psychologist Howard Gardner published his theory of multiple intelligences in 1983. He conceptualizes intelligence as a collection rather than a single defined ability. The 8 types of intelligence he identified were naturalist, musical, linguistics, logical-mathematical, bodily-kinesthic, interpersonal, and intrapersonal. Following this model, it’s easy to see where AI can cover certain types like linguisitic and mathematics but what about interpersonal and intrapersonal? To understand others and oneself? Can that be replicated? And even if it can should it be?
Outro
Would sentient AI really serve us any purpose (besides, the premise of most sci fi horror films) or are we letting our anxieties about the extremes get the best of us? There’s plenty of technological advancements that were probably once considered “scary” that we have accepted into our new normal: self driving cars, robotic surgeons, the list goes on. And there’s plenty of minor applications of AI…for instance…writing some parts of a blog post…did you catch one? Bet you didn’t! See scary….