Artificial Intelligence

September 25, 2023

It was AI week in Washington. Fellow classmate, Chuck Schumer, summoned many of the country’s technology leaders to D.C. to help Congress get it’s arms around the next big thing in technology. AI is going to reshape almost every aspect of our economy and our lives, and politicians want to be ready. AI is prepared to change almost every walk of life including education, medicine, the law, shopping, programming, finance and more. It is still an open question as to whether AI will be a job creator or a job destroyer. The labor strikes that are going on right now in Hollywood and Detroit are partially motivated by workers’ concerns that AI may put them out of a job. The creators of content in the entertainment industry are worried that AI will “scrape” their work with no compensation. For the record, I checked, and I don’t have anything worth scraping. However, what is not open to question is that AI will be a job changer.

Like the tornado in “Twister,” AI is not a storm that is coming. It is already here. Local teachers have to wrestle with the authenticity of the work that students are turning in. In many cases, the students are ahead of the teachers on the technology learning curve. I first became aware of the issue when I was interviewing high school students for college. College admissions officers have to look carefully at the essays that students submit as part of their admissions applications. It can be difficult differentiating authenticity from AI BS. AI can pass medical exams, and make basic diagnoses. A lawyer friend tells me that AI can meticulously prepare and edit legal documents. AI can create computer programs using a variety of languages. AI will be able to manage money. I am glad I am not in that business anymore. I am barely scratching the surface of the possibilities.

AI programs, using hard to get GPU microprocessors, slice and dice data, articles, photos, voice records and more to give you answers to your questions. A professor friend of mine at a local university is teaching an online course on identifying investment opportunities in AI. He didn’t ask for it, but, in literally five seconds, I generated a twelve point syllabus for his course complete with a reading list. Maybe I’ll go back into the financial services business, and use AI to identify investment opportunities. Another professor emeritus friend of mine said that once AI can figure out how to grade assignments, it will be “nirvana.” I sense there was a little sarcasm in his remarks.

Artificial intelligence as a technology platform should not be confused with the artificial intelligence that is being promulgated by certain media outlets, and being recirculated by irresponsible politicians and others. AI, MAGA-style, takes basic truths, puts them through a right wing word processor, and generates a litany of lies and alternative facts for public consumption. For example, many in the MAGA artificial intelligence universe don’t believe in global warming despite the visual evidence to the contrary. I asked ChatGPT, which is a free app, if global warming is real. It responded immediately. “Yes, global warming is real. This phenomenon is supported by extensive scientific evidence.” For a large number of people trafficking in fake AI, Trump won the 2020 election. Real AI begs to disagree. It says, “No, Donald Trump did not win the 2020 United States presidential election. The election results were certified by the Electoral College and upheld by numerous courts and state officials.” Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida is urging Floridians below the age of 65 to not get the new COVID vaccine. What does AI have to say about whether COVID vaccines work? “Yes, COVID-19 vaccines have been proven to be effective in preventing COVID-19 infections, reducing the severity of the disease, and lowering the risk of hospitalization and death.” There is a concept in AI that says that AI will “hallucinate” when it doesn’t know the answer to something. It will just make stuff up. The same can be said about many in the MAGA information universe.

AI is a new technology that we are all going to have to wrap our heads around, and, as with anything new, it will be disconcerting and disruptive. However, who are you going to believe when it comes to some of the critical issues of our time? A program that incorporates almost everything that is knowable, or your crazy uncle, who watches FOX or NewsMax all day. The former is artificial intelligence. The latter is a victim of an artifice of intelligence.