Ray9
Diamond Member
- Jul 19, 2016
- 2,707
- 4,468
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There is no way to avoid artificial intelligence as the arrow of time proceeds. It occurred to me the other day that in spite of my efforts to avoid it I am already part AI. At 72 my brain’s processing speed is not what it once was.
Few of us have lightening processing speed to instantly answer esoteric trivia questions and we marvel at the performance of James Holzhauer, the current savant-like Jeopardy champion. As we age even retrieved information that used to be automatic sometimes hides in the recesses of our memories.
An example: I could not remember the real name of one of the characters on Gilligan’s Island. I could recall the character-Thurston Howell 111. I tried all the usual tricks, even the alphabet soup of first letters for names; it didn’t work. But now our brains have an electronic extension-our computers so if we just type in the Howell name, the name Jim Backus will pop up.
Our neurons and synapses don’t have to become morons and relapses and we no longer have to wait on a lonely, deserted cerebral highway hoping for a distant recollection from a foggy side road of yesteryear. The cellular structure of our brains and the chemicals that fuel them can jump the gap from the physical world into the cyber universe of ones and zeros where the archived knowledge of billions of others is at our beck and call.
At first blush you would think AI would make our own minds lazy but it’s quite the opposite; it generates a bumper crop of creativity that was hitherto in the shadows. Can’t think of a word? Mine it in reverse. Type the definition into your computer and the chances are very good that word will appear, if not front and center, then further down in a related list.
Put that word into a Thesaurus Program and an array of alternatives arise pointing to tributaries that can lead to rivers of originality. Of course AI is a tool and it can be misused. If we spend all our time watching porn or on the bathroom stall walls of Facebook and Twitter we might as well start making payments to a nursing home.
AI is here to stay; it’s in industry, it’s in medicine, it’s even in our music. It’s artificial but it’s a natural next step. Embrace it and be happy.
Few of us have lightening processing speed to instantly answer esoteric trivia questions and we marvel at the performance of James Holzhauer, the current savant-like Jeopardy champion. As we age even retrieved information that used to be automatic sometimes hides in the recesses of our memories.
An example: I could not remember the real name of one of the characters on Gilligan’s Island. I could recall the character-Thurston Howell 111. I tried all the usual tricks, even the alphabet soup of first letters for names; it didn’t work. But now our brains have an electronic extension-our computers so if we just type in the Howell name, the name Jim Backus will pop up.
Our neurons and synapses don’t have to become morons and relapses and we no longer have to wait on a lonely, deserted cerebral highway hoping for a distant recollection from a foggy side road of yesteryear. The cellular structure of our brains and the chemicals that fuel them can jump the gap from the physical world into the cyber universe of ones and zeros where the archived knowledge of billions of others is at our beck and call.
At first blush you would think AI would make our own minds lazy but it’s quite the opposite; it generates a bumper crop of creativity that was hitherto in the shadows. Can’t think of a word? Mine it in reverse. Type the definition into your computer and the chances are very good that word will appear, if not front and center, then further down in a related list.
Put that word into a Thesaurus Program and an array of alternatives arise pointing to tributaries that can lead to rivers of originality. Of course AI is a tool and it can be misused. If we spend all our time watching porn or on the bathroom stall walls of Facebook and Twitter we might as well start making payments to a nursing home.
AI is here to stay; it’s in industry, it’s in medicine, it’s even in our music. It’s artificial but it’s a natural next step. Embrace it and be happy.
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