Is humanity really over? Consider AI’s Achilles Heel

I am an artist. Besides being a tech journalist, I also write novels and I am an actor. This is who I have been for almost four decades.

During my time as a creator of various types of art, I have seen every threat come and go. From CGI to click farms, from people who spent more time trying to beat the Amazon algorithm to people who were cast in a role simply because they had massive social followings.

Too: Best AI Chatbots: ChatGPT and Other Notable Alternatives

But I’ve never seen anything that fills creative types around the world with existential dread as much as the rise of artificial intelligence (AI).

These challenges put me in the awkward position of being disconnected from myself. AI is technology, after all, which is what I cover. Also AI has become a serious threat to my livelihood.

But that’s not the thrust of this piece… at least not on the surface. Let me explain

Too: Generative AI is changing your technology career path. what to know

AI is a powerful, remarkable, game-changing tool that can be used for great good. As AI is powered by extremely large systems (and trained on massive amounts of data), it will always be faster than humans. Imagine what AI can predict for a company, government or organization. Weather patterns, environmental hazards, economic trends, population issues, pandemics… AI can perform such feats in its sleep.

If used wisely (that is the operative term), AI can do wonders for mankind. However, the reality is that large businesses will use AI to increase profits even at the expense of employees. Horrific numbers of jobs will be lost and society may be viewed through a dystopian lens. That’s what capitalism does, and it doesn’t care who it drags down in the process.

But for those feeling a sense of doom, let me try to address your concerns by humanizing the problem.

What is AI?

First, I need to answer an important question. What is AI? For a more in-depth look at what AI is, be sure to read this guide from my colleague Maria Diaz.

In Maria’s words: “AI is a concept that has formally been around since the 1950s, when it was defined as the ability of a machine to perform a task that previously required human intelligence.” This is a fairly broad definition and one that has been modified over decades of research and technological advances.”

Too: The dust will never settle and generative AI can help

According to my interpretation of AI, it goes something like this. Imagine a massive and very complex computer program that allows you to feed in any source of data you like. You decide to input every play and sonnet written by William Shakespeare. When you feed the machine all its work, the AI ​​begins the training process.

Once the machine has consumed all the data you input, you can request it to write a play in the style of Shakespeare about a bear who tries to spend the night in a little pig’s house . The machine can fail simply because it cannot know what a pig is. Unless “pig” is referenced in Shakespeare’s works, the AI ​​may struggle with the hint. So, you might have to file the story in The Three Little Pigs as well.

At this point, the AI ​​should be able to write the story you requested.

Too: What is Generative AI and why is it so popular?

However, your story is still missing something very important.

The missing piece that makes AI dehumanizing

This is where things should get a little hopeful for creative types everywhere. You see, William Shakespeare has something AI will never have — a life.

Shakespeare lived and experienced. He grew from his mistakes and felt joy for every success (I think). Shakespeare was influenced by every moment of his life. As an artist, I can tell you that everything in the world affects us. We are transformed by interactions with humans and animals, we are touched by sunsets and experience deep connections.

Too: AI can compose your emails, reports and essays. But can it express your feelings?

All these feelings, with years of practice and experience, lead us to our “voice”. Every artist has a voice and we use that to make our work unique — and a voice is something AI will never have.

If you ask an AI to write a play in the style of Shakespeare, it might get the iambic pentameter right. It may also be able to play up the stylings woven into the Shakespearean canon. but AI will never He has a voice.

Too: Human or Bot? This Turing Test game tests your AI-spotting skills

You can feed the AI ​​every book Stephen King has written and then ask it to write a book in its own style. Whatever the outcome, the king will not have a voice in it. Why? Because AI is not Stephen King. AI hasn’t lived its life or experienced its joys and heartbreak. AI has not failed and it has learned how to move forward from that failure.

In short, AI is not human and it never will be.

When I first started thinking about the impact of AI on my work, I was intrigued. But then I remembered that I am human and my voice is unique. People read my work—not because of the stories I tell, or the information I convey—because I have spent decades developing a voice that is definitely mine and no one else’s.

returns to ‘knowing’

to borrow a album title from kansas, we have reached the point of return “address”. AI will continue to grow, but it will never truly “know”. The AI ​​might be able to describe a sunset, but it might not know a sunset or be deeply moved by one. It cannot feel it because it does not have the ability to feel how dynamic the sunset can be.

AI can only know what we tell it. If you don’t tell the AI ​​what a pig is, it can’t know a pig. AI can’t see a pig, it can’t pet a pig, or perceive how intelligent pigs can be. It cannot know these things because it is not human.

Too: Best AI art generator: DAL-E2 and other fun options to try

So, instead of wringing our hands about the negative impact of AI, the focus should be on the positive impact that AI can have. If companies with the skills and power to shape the landscape of AI put all their effort and energy into ensuring that AI is only used to benefit humanity, the things it can do will be absolutely remarkable.

However, should those in control choose to use AI for the sole purpose of profit, things could go horribly wrong for everyone involved. This dystopia ends with the majority of society out of work, governments unable to solve rising unemployment/poverty, predicted arrests (“guilty before proven innocent” states), and businesses reducing their workforce in favor of AI. Decided to let people go because their bottom line is gone because they don’t have money.

The above description may sound like the plot of a novel (which you can bet someone is writing as I’m writing), but it’s really not too far off the mark. That endpoint will be the highest price to be paid for an AI that has spiraled out of control.

Too: how i cheated chatgpt lied to me

The point of relief is that AI will never be human, which is something we all have to remind ourselves every day. It will have no opinion, soul, heart or voice of its own.

AI is nothing more than an evolution of technology and will never best a human when it comes to being human.