The tech industry is notorious for its ability to sell the future, but its visions of a world powered by the "metaverse," "web3," and "artificial intelligence" are nothing more than mirages. Despite the bite back of reality, these terms have raked in billions of dollars for the industry, and the phrase "artificial intelligence" alone may be one of the most successful marketing terms of all time.
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| Mirage of AI |
While the notion of thinking machines conjures up images of true intelligence, the reality is that no machine can think, and no software is truly intelligent. Even OpenAI's latest language model, GPT-4, which sounds even more humanlike than its predecessor, is simply mirroring databases of text. These systems are trained to generate text that sounds plausible, but they are far from oracles of knowledge that can be plugged into search engines. Terms like "neural networks" and "deep learning" only bolster the idea that these programs are humanlike, but they are only loosely inspired by the workings of the human brain. We need a different lexicon that doesn't propagate magical thinking about computer systems and doesn't absolve the people designing those systems from their responsibilities.
Ascribing intelligence to machines gives them undeserved independence from humans and abdicates their creators of responsibility for their impact. The rush by companies to plug chatbots and text and image generators into their systems is almost misleading, as it creates a fatalistic compliance among humans who suffer technology's damaging effects. Despite its embedded status in our vocabulary, we must remind ourselves of how reliant these systems are on human managers who should be held accountable for their side effects. Rather than labeling chatbots and image generators as "AI," we should call them what they really are - "giant plagiarism machines" that mainly recombine prose and pictures created by humans.
The dangers of AI hype and the need for responsible technology
But the problem goes beyond just the terminology. The hype surrounding AI has led to a rush to develop and deploy these technologies without proper consideration of their potential risks and harms. The consequences of this can be disastrous, as seen in cases such as the bias and discrimination perpetuated by facial recognition software, or the deadly accidents caused by self-driving cars.
Furthermore, the development of AI is not occurring in a vacuum. It is happening within a larger context of social and economic inequality, where those with the most power and resources are able to shape the direction of technological progress. This can lead to AI being developed primarily for the benefit of the few, rather than the many. The solution to these problems lies in responsible technology development. This means taking a more cautious approach to the development and deployment of AI, and ensuring that these technologies are subject to rigorous testing and evaluation before being released into the world.
It also means involving a diverse range of voices and perspectives in the development process, including those who may be impacted by these technologies the most. This includes communities who have historically been marginalized or excluded from the tech industry. Finally, responsible technology development means recognizing the limitations of these technologies and being transparent about their capabilities and limitations. It means avoiding the temptation to oversell the potential of AI in order to secure funding or gain public attention.
In the end, the key to responsible technology development is recognizing that these technologies are not a panacea for our societal problems. They are tools that can be used to address certain issues, but they are not a substitute for broader social and political change. As we move forward in the development of AI and other emerging technologies, it is crucial that we do so with a critical eye and a commitment to responsibility. Only by doing so can we ensure that these technologies are developed and deployed in a way that benefits us all.
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