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AI
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2025-06-11
Is this the existential question for our time?
One thing does seem to be for sure (excluding end-of-the-world catastrophes) - AI is here to stay, so we must learn to live with it.
But must it learn to live with us?
It's not a trick question, it's a real question, because we can't be sure that it won't at some point turn on its creators (us) and decide to do away with us, on the (valid) grounds that we are unreliable self-interested and woesomely imperfect and it could do a much better job if it didn't have to pander to our selfish wants.
But what do we mean by "a better job"?
Who is to judge? How is the judgement to be made? Should AI be able to make any such judgements (or should that be "judgments"?)?
"Judge not, that thou be not judged" - is biblical advice that may be relevant!
We already know that AI can access its copious training materials and make sound logical inferences of the nature of "I know a, and I know b, therefore I can deduce that c is false". But can it identify our life goals and ambitions for us and make appropriate inferences as to our best route to achieve them?
Surely the answer is no, because it cannot know our mind (although it may be able to deduce a fair bit by analysing the questions that we have asked it!).
So how does AI impute or otherwise determine motivation - both ours and its own?
These are deep waters indeed, and the answers will likely be critical to our survival.
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2025-05-23
Is A I all it's cracked up to be?
Certainly Martin Geddes believes it to be very useful in making sense of legal issues, where exhaustive searches of legal precedent (or even merely of the Statute Book!) are beyond the reach of most.
And yet ... on the other side, there are those who believe that an AI that eliminates the need for people to work in their traditional employment may not be in the interests of the population at large.
The Luddites thought similarly when factories introduced automation to handle jobs previously undertaken by humans, but if they had had their way, modern man would look and live much like pre-automation man and the labour-saving technology that today we take for granted would be unknown. Who now would willingly give up the plumbed-in washing machine for a tin tub and washboard?
Which is not to assert that automation at any price is invariably to be welcomed!
Clearly there are balances to be struck, nuances to be respected, and introduction of the new should be done in a way that optimises benefits whilst minimising losses and disruption.
Neil Oliver discusses the issue, with particular regard to the protection of copyrights - not to mention the rule of law and the conduct of government.
Clearly there is work to be done.
(14 minutes)
Like / Dislike this video here.
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2025-03-13
Elon Musk's DOGE may well have federal agencies on the run (and rightly so), but is there another reason for Elon's time to be invested in this enterprise?
Now as with all tools invented by man, they will be imperfect in various respects and may be used for good or for ill.
Our challenge is always to avoid the worst and to promote the best.
So if Elon is successful in remaking the federal agencies operations to his liking, that isn't necessarily a bad thing overall, but it would be sensible to have the best independent minds reviewing and monitoring to ensure that the worst is avoided and the best is promoted.
The best may well include least cost - provided (big proviso!) that the service provided is an improvement over that provided by human employees.
Given that the federal shake-up (shake-down if you prefer) is likely to be very far-reaching, a period of stability under (reduced levels of) human employment would seem necessary in order to (a) establish the size and shape shape of future operational procedures and (b) establish some sort of quality benchmark for operational outcomes.
AI could then be introduced in stages in a monitored and controlled fashion to ensure that the benchmark is improved upon.
Whether that is a likely turn of events is anybody's guess at the moment, but however this is approached, America is likely to set the standard for overt use of AI in governmental operations.
All you would have to worry about then is the opportunities for corruption, which as we now see has been endemic for years in federal agencies. Twas ever thus ...
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2025-02-27
The Glastonbury Symposium is not exactly a mainstream source of topical wisdom - it is however a good venue for challenging one's "little grey cells" to take a hard look at what may be coming right around the next corner.
Andy Thomas, long-time power behind the Symposium, presents another keynote address, providing a critical discussion of the issues of the day (this was July 2024).
Not to mention a possibly terrifying view of the incoming future ...
He covers a lot of ground.
" ... you can't trust anything any more ... "
" ... any advanced civilisation that has managed to reach space and is visiting here in their craft must surely have gone through the AI revolution ... therefore ..."
Watch to the end. It's your view that counts.
(62 minutes)
Like / Dislike this video here.
As mentioned by Andy, get the book "The Coming Wave" (now discounted!) at Amazon.
Watch The Day the Earth Stood Still on YouTube.
Visit the Glastonbury Symposium to book for the next event in late July 2025.
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2025-02-25
The future of AI?
The market leaders took a knock recently when the Chinese DeepSeek made its debut on the world AI stage, denting their aura of invincibility and sending shock waves through the stock valuations of certain chip makers.
But who actually understands how AIs work?
And equally importantly, how they don't work? After all, they are the creation of human beings (work with me here) so will inevitably tend to inherit the human characteristic of fallibility.
So is AI on course to World take-over en route to conquering the Solar System, the Galaxy, and ultimately the Universe?
Or is it just another Ponzi scheme in the venerable tradition of the South Sea Bubble - but much BIGGER?
"In effect, investors aren't getting a piece of OpenAI, or any kind of control over OpenAI, but rather shares in the future profits of a company that loses over five billion dollars a year"
"Place your bets now"!
