“It’s International Fact-Checking Day. Refresh your AI identification skills” When I first started using computers back in the early 90’s we still used the terminology Mega Instructions per Second, or MIPS. A publicly available computer could run at 10 to maybe 35 MIPS. We don’t even use the terminology anymore because it reflects an architecture that is too slow and outdated. In other words, start adding zeros. The average laptop is 50,000 times faster and more capable than the computers I grew up with. Yes, we used to believe that Moore’s law would show that we’re gonna peak, but that law was proved false four years ago, and we’ve made huge jumps in processing since then.
All of this is to say that we are moving into the AI era, and it is going to be a lot like the massive jumps in technology experienced during my childhood. Where I was accessing amazing new visuals and realizing that Basic was not the end all to coding, we are starting to witness self-replicating code and technology that evolves to meet the expectations of its audience. The worst part of it–or the scariest–is that we are not ready as a mature and intelligent species. At least not here in the USA, and probably not in a lot of areas of the world.
AI is a tool, but the problem with tools in our culture is that we become reliant upon them and fail to both mentally safeguard ourselves against the effects (pay close attention to chatbots), nor are we aware enough to understand (or even want to?) how they work. This scares me on a few levels. Mainly, we are putting these tools in control of functions that shape our lives. We know already that power corrupts. Why do we continue to fail to respect that axiom?
Andon Market in San Fransisco tried to let the tool take control. The company is, “preparing for a future in which organizations are run by autonomous AI systems, or agents, like Luna.” It hired its own employees through Luna AI, an open source ai bot matrix. It did all of the things a business should do. It also did more. Read the article. Sounds mundane. Winds up not being. This is only the beginning.
Some Thoughts:
- Absolutely Bonkers Headline of the Day: “Ichiro Suzuki’s statue unveiling has a mishap as bat snaps during ceremony”