In recent weeks, we have been bombarded with an avalanche of disturbing reports of artificial intelligence breakthroughs. It was scary. A thousand experts from the technology world, ranging from thoughtful academics and renowned scientists to visionary entrepreneurs such as Elon Musk and Steve Wozniak, signed a petition calling for a pause in the development of artificial intelligence. Six months of reflection seemed wise to the company now that the use of the smart system behind ChatGPT is booming.
The advanced text generator ChatGPT is more than a handy app that can take some work off our hands, it is an immense leap in the further automation of tasks that could once only be performed by humans. That process started centuries ago with mechanical alternatives to manual work that we today call mind-numbing, but it is now time-consuming thinking that requires a great deal of acquired knowledge and skill.
Own character
The latter takes a lot of time in humans: we are not born as optimally functioning adults. On our way to a productive life, we learn much more than the skills needed to become a good plumber or astronaut. We develop our own character, morals and social skills, such as empathy or a sense of humor and perspective. Without the latter we are lost, because life is full of setbacks and frustration. Can an artificially intelligent computer system help us with that?
Of course! I was in a sack and ashes recently when a shopping algorithm forced two CDs of obscure German new wave from the first half of the 1980s on me. I didn’t ask for it though Something of no matter in Something from no matter 2 hit target. The clumsy synthesizer sounds made merry and the silly lyrics settled easily in the brain. The latter always comes in handy. When things go wrong, I can dispel the malheur with nonsensical German singing: ‘Why do cars have to drive? Why is the sky blue?’ Therefore!
Of course, a shopping algorithm is not an artificially intelligent computer system, but it is conceivable that an advanced system could make our lives even more comfortable. Nevertheless, I share the skepticism of the thousand scholars who are now asking for reflection. I am not one of those smartphone users who need an app for every obstacle. Thinking for yourself is never wrong and it is always useful to analyze problems and come up with solutions. But as the eastern neighbors say: ‘that was once.’
To Jupiter
In 1980 I wanted Stanley Kubricks 2001: A Space Odyssey see, but that film rarely played in the cinema. On a weekday school day, the masterpiece was shown freely accessible in the auditorium of the Technische Hogeschool. What to do? I copied my father’s handwriting to pre-announce my absence from school and pretended to just go to class at home. The operation went smoothly and I learned more about the role of humans and technology in the universe on the stolen afternoon than I had in the four years of high school that preceded it. It was a formative experience.
Kubrick’s masterpiece now hangs like a thundercloud over the question of artificial intelligence. In the film, a manned space mission to Jupiter is carried out with the intelligent on-board computer HAL. The system is said to be infallible, but HAL has hiccups and gets it over the top. There are deaths.
The film caused quite a stir in 1968: Kubrick landed on the moon before NASA. But what remains to this day is the warning against blind faith in technological progress. When we build super smart machines that can develop their own will, the consequences are incalculable.
Fact and fiction
In the tech world of Silicon Valley, HAL is certainly not an unknown phenomenon. 2001: A Space Odyssey is there compulsory. It has become a classic text, as was Mary Shelley’s relevant novel before Frankenstein from 1818. Man is capable of great deeds, but the road to HAL and hell is paved with good intentions.
Currently, ChatGPT doesn’t care too much about the distinction between fact and fiction, but neither did the previous US president. Could it be worse? Always.
But that’s no problem, I have a song for that: ‘Why do cars have to drive? Why is the sky blue?’ That’s why.
2001: A Space Odyssey deserves a big screen but has also been released on blu-ray (Warner Bros).