I think I’ve heard everything now. The other day I was admonished by my car’s onboard hands-free system to be more polite when addressing her. Let me repeat that.
I was admonished by my onboard hands-free system to be more polite.
Are you kidding me right now? Needless to say, a few more, less-than-polite words were forthcoming. I’m sure all the other drivers must have thought it quite amusing to see me jumping around in my seat yelling at the dashboard.
What happened is this: My car’s hands-free system was acting a little wonky while I was attempting to make a call. I kept repeating the individual’s name I wished to call, and the system kept getting it wrong or simply cutting out. After about the fourth attempt I got a little hot and let loose with a few choice words to let the darn thing know I was done messing about. The next thing I know, I’m being told in a very superior tone that she doesn’t appreciate being spoken to in that way and, despite only being an “electronic assistant,” I should refrain from using such language when speaking to her.
I know I said before that I’d heard everything, but when it comes to artificial intellgince, I’m sure we’ll all be hearing plenty more. Some will be good; some perhaps not so much. Stephen Hawking warned that powerful AI would be “either the best thing, or the worst thing, ever to happen to humanity.” And California is currently attempting to pass legislation providing accountability and penalties for any potential damage done online by AI algorithms.
We’ve sure come a long way from the early days when it was all speculation and endless possibilities; when John McCarthy, the American computer and cognitive scientist who is generally considered to have invented AI, coined the term during a summer research project at Dartmouth in 1956. AI is now so ubiquitous, if you’re on the grid, you’re in the matrix.
It’s been predicted that by 2028, our education system could become virtually unrecognizable, as AI is used to create a unique, tailored learning experience for each student. On the health care front, AI — which is already widely in use for patient monitoring, operating room management and pretty much everything else — will likely become the standard diagnostic tool for doctors. AI is now even being used to help university admissions staff sift through thousands of applications and summarize all the attendant essays. And new algorithms are being written as you read this that will increasingly influence your life in coming years.
While a few people I know have expressed some concern about being “listened to” and having targeted advertising pop up in their social media feeds, other folks seem pretty comfortable with AI — if they’re even aware of it — because it’s helpful and mostly works in the background. Predictive text with its sometimes amusing foibles is a good example: through use, over time you “teach” your phone or computer words and phrases you use often, and then it starts suggesting those when it “thinks” they might be appropriate.
But that’s just small potatoes. There are lots of things that AI currently does, or will do shortly, which may have the power to not only existentially alter our lives, but our perception of reality and the truths we take for granted as well — trading one fiction for another. Like AI-generated Morgan Freeman and Joe Rogan voices narrating a reel or touting all manner of things. Even voices of politicians and other public figures are being generated to give the impression they’ve said things they haven’t actually said. These are called “deep fakes,” and are becoming an increasingly common way to spread disinformation online.
While I’m certainly no expert, some of this AI business really hits home. As a creative person, there’s something here that reaches deeper for me than it might for some. While it may not yet be as refined or sophisticated as it one day will be, AI is already capable of doing pretty much everything I — and other folks like me — feel defines us. We use our minds and imaginations to make art, but it’s already possible to use one of any number of available apps to write a song, or a story. They can even create a picture in the style of just about any artist who has ever lived.
While I’m pretty sure there’s plenty more weirdness waiting in the wings, I’ve decided to keep an open mind about it all. AI is simply another step on the path of human and artistic evolution. It began with finger-painted cave drawings, pounding bones on logs and storytelling around the fire, which ultimately led to the invention of brushes, hide-covered drums and pictographs — and all the advancements since.
So I’m not going to worry about it. I’ll just keep on doing what I do, and hope the powers that be around here don’t figure out that all they need do is feed the AI app a few of my old columns, pick a topic and bada bing bada boom, I’m out of a job.
W. R. van Elburg is a James City County resident. He can be reached at w.r.vanelburg@gmail.com.
