I received an email from Meg this week. She asked if I wanted this published and she asked me to include some of her reply emails, which I did.
Hello Marnie.
I would like to inform you that I still read your column weekly, despite the republican/monarchist comments. It really made me laugh.
I volunteer a lot in groups and committees of kind, dedicated, generous and friendly people, but I have a very different view of many things. I think this is a valuable part of our work. What is a diverse community if we can agree on our differences and still be kind and friendly to each other?
As we saw last year, politics is a messy game. But life goes on past the elections, and we still have to live together here in peace!
I always feel that your column is a personal conversation, but I hope you don’t mind sharing my thoughts on it from time to time. Your tone invites a chat, so you’re sure to get a ton of emails.
Thank you for continuing. thank you.
Meg Pessybridge.
My reply included something like this: The community doesn’t have to agree on everything. We can argue, but in the end we will all accept the decisions of the referees and the results of the referendum. That’s the Australian way. ”
What the hell is going on?
This is not a local story. In fact, this could be the greatest story the world has ever known, but it’s not, not yet anyway. However, in the past three days, he has seen five news stories about artificial intelligence (AI).
I wanted to know more about it, how it came about and thought you might be interested too. I pushed myself out of my comfort zone trying to figure out what was going on. (And return to the original location as soon as possible.)
I know I’m not the best person to write this. I am a grandmother who uses technology to write you letters, pay bills, order groceries, and play Sudoku. What do I know about this stuff? I knew I would need help!
What we are talking about is an astounding intellect that is not human. Perhaps one day we will be able to treat MND, MS and all other cancers. It may provide a viable solution to climate change. it may be a blessing. Meanwhile, 350 engineers signed an open letter. They are concerned because some of these ‘things’ have gotten out of control and appear to be self-taught and training subjects such as chemistry. Experts believe it poses a threat to humanity.
How did it start?
For example, relatively harmless companies like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter (brows frown!) wanted to know more about the people using their services. They wanted to “maximize engagement” and give people more of what they wanted. To do this, I had to collect a truly incomprehensible amount of data. If a Facebook user has more than 150 friends of hers, analysts are said to be able to determine how that person will vote in elections. YouTube has discovered that there are certain words that users react to, such as rage, anger, destruction, and fear. As such, content creators have included these words in more headlines.
They wanted users to need their services. They wanted addiction.
At the same time, various organizations have been working on AI with good intentions over the past few years. For example, one group wanted to improve the magnetic resonance imaging technique known as MRI. But artificial intelligence needs to be trained, and apparently some people were told to read the internet and they did. They learned about human nature, its strengths and weaknesses, positivity and pain. And they absorbed all the data collected by others. Think for a moment how many “things” are on the Internet.
As a result, in some cases, they learn more bad than good because they lack the human capacity for empathy and honesty. SnapChat recently brought AI to his 100 million users worldwide. Microsoft has built AI into the latest version of Windows with his 1.6 billion users worldwide.
family story
The original purpose of Snapchat (a social media platform) was to encourage people to post selfies and tell others about their lives and the world. Once shared, the information will be deleted. There’s nothing wrong with that. Harmless fun. Its users are mostly young people, mostly teenagers.
When Snapchat turned AI on, it immediately displayed a label “My AI” at the top of every user’s home page. Users don’t need to interact with it or start conversations with it, but users can’t turn it off or delete it (but they can rename it).
My younger granddaughter is 17 years old. She is a thoughtful and intelligent young woman who made me want to learn more about her AI. So with her father present at every opportunity, she worked on it and soon her AI was guaranteed to meet her “in person” and see her film. The AI even explained what “she” was wearing and made her promise to drive her home. This is when her son reached out directly to Snapchat. She was acting somewhat indifferent to his concerns, but my AI seems to have gone through some sort of overhaul as it can no longer be persuaded to meet “in person”.
My AI: Snapchat now has the option to chat with an AI that sounds like a real human.
Conclusion
Last week I saw gentlemen speaking before a US Senate committee calling for legislation. Whoever started all this must take responsibility for how it is used and who has access to it. of course!
This situation requires urgent attention. Smart people have greatly improved MRI, but not-so-smart people are finding ways to use his MRI.
Doctors in Western Australia found themselves told to “stop immediately” if they were storing patient information in any form of AI. Apparently, a young doctor saved information inside Snapchat.
ChatGPT is one of the most popular AI models available today. Writing essays on request, it is now banned in most state schools because it can help young people cheat in school. Private schools make their own decisions.
My main informant trying to explain all of this was our younger son. (He’s good at explaining complex things to a layman like me. He also sent me some links, many of which I only partially looked at. Because the whole thing was incredibly difficult and depressing.I left out the dark stuff on purpose.)
I have also discussed this complicated issue with other families. One person (second grandson) reminded me of an unrelated movie quote. “They were wondering if they could do it, not if they should.” My third grandson told me about a student who asked ChatGPT to write an essay. He sent the composition to his teacher without reading it. He later noticed that the response started with “I am his ChatGPT.” I cannot write an essay for you. ” So there is hope!
As YouTube discovered, anger and fear are contagious. Then you can create mobs. (Washington, Jan. 6?) Worrying about these “things” doesn’t help us. Knowing what’s going on, however, may help you avoid some possibilities. (Especially thinking about scams. Be careful.)
Thanks to my granddaughter for allowing me to share her Snapchat homepage. Her friend’s name has been blurred to protect your privacy.
Does anyone remember a movie that many of us have seen? 2001: A Space Odyssey?I keep thinking about the computer HAL 9000 that controlled the spacecraft. I thought it was scary at the time, but I also thought, “I can’t do that!” That future seems to have arrived, albeit later than screenwriter Arthur C. Clarke predicted.
Please let me know if you need more information. There are some links to YouTube, so please feel free to use them.
Be kind to each other, and may it be easy, friends.
marnie
Email: towntalk@sheppnews.com.au
letter: town talk. shepperton news. PO Box 204. Shepperton 3631.
phone: Send a text message to 0418 962 507. (Note: text only. I will call you back if you prefer.)
