artificial intelligence – Nina's Homepage

Image of a red round light bulb with a yellow center representing the fictional talking computer HAL 9000's eye. — HAL 9000’s red eye… (Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons)

1968, as early as all that…: HAL 9000 – epitome of all AI and ‘talking’ computers… Its voice and red eye apparently made it particularly enticing for the characters in the movie… I never watched that movie, but around IT you cannot possibly escape the ideas surrounding it… 😉

“Google is your friend”? In many fora online after Google had first been established as a fast search engine you could find that as a reminder to “go and search” for yourself.

Long before AI became such a hype there was talk about computers taking over – roles, work, or the whole world…
At the moment AI seems to be – or increasingly to become – a ‘friend’ in a new manner.

I am lucky I was raised by smart parents who knew a thing or two about people, psychology, humanity, mankind… being human, in short.

I also was around other cultures a lot where being human still means – to be a feeling, thinking, at times vulnerable, being with brains and heart, instead of a marketing figure who is always perfect according to such rules as they can be found in TV advertisements as well as other kinds of Hollywood movies.

“2001: A Space Odyssey” – The movie by Stanley Kubrick, award-winning director, is considered a classic by this time – and a state-of-the-art pointer for other movies of this kind.

Let’s spread the word: AI is not a friend. It’s not a therapist. It’s not something to put in the place of humans.
It does not have compassion, it hasn’t got a heart – and it has no brains!
Failures and pitfalls in that direction can be tragic, so recent news tell us.

Image of a robot hand and a human hand touching their index fingers — (Image licensed via Adobe CC)

Machines do not feel. They do not have emotions. They do not digest food.

“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.” (Genesis 1, King James version)

I quote the bible’s text on the creation of the earth. A creative act, described by humans.
It’s a mystical text and beautiful in its rhythm and simplicity. I heard it often when still growing up and visiting Roman catholic church regularly.

I was raised not only on Christianity, but on enlightenment too, and the idea that humans should be social for a very obvious reason: They are social beings.

That’s one thing differentiating humans from machines:
Humans are social.
They also have emotions, feelings – often passionate ones.

Machines do not feel.

The most striking difference between humans and machines is the fact that the thoughts and ideas a human can have are without limit, literally.

Machines, called ‘artificial intelligence’ still are machines, calculating.
They use algorithms and routines of combined algorithms built on statistical probability. They use huge amounts of data and calculate fast, because of the hardware involved – and the power supply.

That speed makes them in some ways superior to humans in the matter of speed – but: Nothing else.

They cannot use unknown, new data, if no human does provide it. They cannot combine things other than the ways programmed into their algorithms.

What can provide an impression of an actual person talking is the fact that language is used to create ‘answers’ after a fashion. But that is all.
Language follows patterns, just as algorithms do.
Such as: “How are you?” – “Fine.”

Machines can combine the data and the patterns in likely manners, based on their algorithms’ routines, that is the programming. Not in actual new ways that humans can or could.

If ever anyone tries to sell you the idea that ‘artificial intelligence’ is more than a machine, remember: They are selling it…

😉

Category: artificial intelligence

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