SOME TIME AGO while eating in a restaurant, I saw the following entertaining scene unfold. An electronically powered robot began to navigate its way through the restaurant. After dodging everything in its path, the robot turned into the aisle where we were seated, and stopped at the table opposite us and an electronic voice invited the guests to remove the food order from the tray at the front of the machine. After they had done so, the robot retreated the same way it had come.
I am old enough to remember a time when such a scene would have been part of science fiction. Now it is a perfectly normal occurrence thanks to something called artificial intelligence or simply AI.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be defined as the ability of a machine or computer to perform tasks that usually require human intelligence, such as learning, problem-solving and decision-making. Or to put it otherwise, AI simulates or mimics human intelligence. Most of us encounter AI almost daily: Siri, Alexa or Google Translator, ChatGPT are just some examples.
Is AI a good thing or is it bad? That of course depends on who you ask. Some believe it is the way of the future, and they praise the convenience that it brings including cars that can drive themselves. A friend told me how that saved his life as he got very ill while driving home from the cottage. Others point to the fraud and the scams that AI created emails, videos and texts have created. Personally, I believe that AI, like any other form of technology, is inherently neither good or bad – it depends on how humans use it. It can be used for good, as in the medical diagnostic field, or it can be used for evil purposes.
Recently I have come across AI in some negative ways. Firstly, as many of you know I teach at a college about 5 months of the year. Before I mark essays or term papers, I always upload the students’ work to an online plagiarism detector. Within minutes I receive a report that tells me what percentage of the paper is of human origin, and what was created by AI, and how much of the paper was copied from other uncited sources. In the latter case, the report also shows me exactly what parts were copied and from what sources. How is this detected? AI is used to recognize AI, and to cross reference sources that should have been acknowledged. In this example, students have discovered that AI can produce an essay on almost any subject. The student is spared the hard work of research and creativity.
The next example disturbs me even more. The Bible software that I use, recently advertised a Sermon Writing App. One needs to simply input a few details like the subject, how long you want the sermon to be, how many points and illustrations you want, and what kind of audience it should be geared to and “the App” will do the rest. No need to labour over research and exegesis and creative writing – the very things that I teach! I was tempted to try it out and see if it works, but I decided not to. I would rather not know.
Then there is the way that AI is used in unethical ways on social media. I recently saw a video on YouTube that proclaimed that Elon Musk had purchased CNN and how he was in the process of buying up American networks one by one to “clean them up”. I was surprised that I hadn’t heard about that from any other source, so I did some research. Sure enough, nobody else was reporting this, and CNN denied the story. Then while Pope Francis was in the hospital, there was a story that he had died – weeks before his actual demise. I would caution anyone: before passing on news about anything on social media, do some homework and check it out!`
This leads me to some things that AI CANNOT do: it lacks creativity and originality. While AI can generate material and ideas based on patterns, it lacks the ability to come up with novel concepts that require imagination and intuition. AI has a limited understanding or common sense. It lacks the ability to make moral or ethical decisions, as it depends on biases that depend on programmed data.
Another drawback is that AI has been shown to be addictive if people depend on it too much. It is easier to rely on it rather than to be creative, innovative, and skillful. Like everything else in life, use with moderation!
