I can’t be serious
Al has been making headlines again lately, and so did he in my neighborhood in the 1950s. But there is a big difference between the impact on the world of an invention from a few generations ago and the AI breakthrough of today. “Artificial Intelligence” will undoubtedly bring many benefits, but it is also something to be feared, and its effects on the planet are not yet fully understood.
“Real” AI artificial insemination is a whole other story, and was welcomed in the Irish countryside – unless it was a bull of course! An old law regulating the breeding of livestock was enshrined in statutes, but by the time we are speaking it had not been widely enforced in practice. “Scrabble” was outlawed and the only lovers to whom cows were entitled to partner were “registered bulls”. This did not make the job any easier for small farmers with unregistered bulls. You have to remember that having calves is your number one priority, and paperwork and pedigrees are just a distraction.
There is a hilarious story told about the conflict between the upper echelons and the great Congressman James Dillon (widely known as the greatest orator and debater in Dyle history). It was election time and Dillon was giving a speech from the back of a truck somewhere in the west of Ireland.
The TD found himself constantly jeered by a man near the front desk. A man was opposed to offering his “big heifer” to a few licensed bulls in his area. And the man asserted that there was “his young man” in the field willing to do the work.
An unfortunate heifer owner had a real hard time, naming every licensed bull he tried as “not worth it at all.” An hour later, when James Dillon tried to end the meeting, he was still working. “What about my big heifer?” cried the man. Dillon had a strong, ringing voice, a necessary condition for politicians of the time. And now he turned his steely gaze on his tormentor. “Well, my good man, all I can say is you made the right ‘hole’ out of your big little heifer! ”
I was very happy when an AI station opened in our area. Instead of my brothers and I having a hard time chasing a randy cow along the road to Tommy or Gil’s bull, it was left tethered in a ditch and men arrived to breed it. Did. Mind you, the downside to this move forward was that the man had to be paid. Perhaps a bunch of unneutered bulls in Andy Cosgrove’s field would be happy to do the job for free.
The AI we talk about today is no laughing matter, and no one knows how it will end. Artificial intelligence is a very disturbing phenomenon. I read or heard somewhere that even the person who invented it fears the harm it might do to the world. Too complicated for a 15-year-old school dropout to understand, but the AI seems to get out of control all too easily.
Proponents will always argue that there is always a human perspective, but many experts in this sort of technology field believe that as soon as AI no longer needs humans, it will take over and override human orders. I worry about the possibilities, and I worry about who checks for disinformation. . (Disinformation is a fancy new name for lies.) At this point, it is questionable how much control humans are willing to give to machines. We really do live in a real world…
Of course, like many other modern inventions, AI has enormous capacity for good. It’s already helping advance medicine, climate change, and space… Journalism is a profession that will be hit hard by AI, which can churn out articles and reports on any subject at the touch of a button. According to the young people, I will be the first to go. “All the editor has to do is tell the machine to write the first thing that comes to mind as an 800-word string…if it had a head. I’m not James Dillon, so there’s no comeback for that piece.
don’t forget
In despair, I am reminded that throughout history the path of truth and love has always triumphed. Murderers and tyrants will appear, and it may seem invincible for a while. But in the end it always falls. Always think of it. (Mohandas Gandhi)
