A.I. what’s with all the hype?

Normally I would be using the blog/posts for this, however, I would very much like to see what others have to say about it and what others have to say about other’s thoughts on the topic.

Disclaimer:

This will mostly be my opinion and understanding on the topic as I am not saying that I’m an expert or have insider knowledge about the topic.

Just what is A.I.?

A.I. is an acronym for Artificial Intelligence and you can pretty much use any search engine to get the dictionary definition. In very simple terms, it is software that can ‘learn’ stuff and make use of what it ‘learned’ to do a task. The thing that really makes the A.I. ‘software’ special is it can write to itself and can become very complex to the point that even the creators of it don’t understand its logic/code.

Using it for simple things; where you ask it in a natural human language to do something such as performing a task that would be monotonous or take a single person a really long time to perform. Ex: Where you would have a robot doing physical tasks, A.I. is working with intangible stuff like data/information.

Just like teaching a robot to collect, wash, dry, and put away the supper dishes, there are going to be broken dishes before it gets it right. The big question; is it going to continue to get it right?

A.I. is not good nor evil, it’s just a very complex tool. Just like any other tool, pending on who’s using it, it can be helpful and productive or be a threat and destructive. Even if the people who wield it have only good intentions, there is lots of room for misinterpretation and error. The potential damage it can cause is based on how much you rely on it and the ability/control you give it.

I myself would treat its answers as opinions or suggestions like I would from a stranger (because it is a stranger). Also, not give it control of anything sensitive like my personal computer or door locks on my house.

Before we get Self-Aware A.I. (might be too late on this one) or A.G.I. (Artificial General Intelligence), we need safeties put in place like Asimov’s Laws (The Three Laws of Robotics). However, how do we implement them, how do we make it so they can’t be bypassed (by anyone or the A.I.), get misinterpreted, or A.I. finding a work around?

The 2004 movie “I, Robot” comes to mind.

Yes, I do use A.I., however, only through websites. I don’t use Microsoft Windows on my personal computer except in a virtual machine and only when necessary. I have used generative A.I. (the images on this website) and the A.I. that is now a part of the Google search. I also have tried Copilot on the computer at work (nothing critical, just instruction on how to do Microsoft things).

A new term has been going around lately; A.I. Slop. Yes, I have seen it as images or videos mostly in Facebook and some in YouTube. Mostly used as clickbait, ads, and some deep fakes. The thing about living in the age of A.I., you have to be skeptical of everything! Unless the slop is purely entertainment, aesthetics, or parody, critical thinking also becomes very important. Double checking, triple checking facts from reputable sources is a must if you planning on using or sharing anything from Facebook or YouTube as information.

I have done multimedia stuff from desktop publishing to editing videos and other things in between. I kind of developed a bit of a skill in identifying A.I. vs. Real. You look for the errors; incorrect biology (ex: wrong number of fingers or limbs), random letters for words on signs, errors in physics (ex: heavy things floating), incorrect perspective or field of view, the list goes on. The deep fakes are the tough ones, they can be really tricky. You have to notice subtle errors like wrong shadows, lack of depth, wrong contrast between objects.

What’s your thoughts on A.I.? What do you do with it (if anything at all)? Will the future with A.I. be a utopia or dystopia? How do you determine what is real or fake?