Artificial Intelligence, Science fiction and Marketing.
Let's talk about artificial intelligence. Developers have provided access to systems that allow us to create various types of images and writing using textual instructions. Seems pretty cool. But I wonder, is this new AI just a lot of vaporware? In my first novel, SPECIATION: Homo sapiens apparatus, AI is central to the plot, so you won't be surprised if I say that I don't think that AI is a sham. Just the opposite. So then, what exactly is going on with these newfangled tools?
It's simple; tech corps and their marketing teams are putting on a show, it's advertising, marketing. It's a lot sexier to talk about artificial intelligence than to say their using large language models.
AI is generally categorized in three types: narrow or weak, general or strong and ultimately as artificial superintelligence or ASI. Using the above distinctions, we should consider pretty much all the current AI as narrow. The distinction between strong AI and an ASI is related to its capability level using a stepwise development model. I think that once you reach the level of artificial general intelligence, you’ll quickly advance to the ASI stage. Many labs are working on various aspects of human intelligence and how it can be replicated and then surpassed within technology but real progress isn't here yet. I think that we'll need the high-powered computing that a quantum computer will provide before we make serious inroads into real AI.
Products such as Alexa, Siri and the different GPS are based on narrow AI. This type has been deployed since the 90s and were often referred to as expert systems. The goal was to provide users with powerful help systems by giving them access to online experts. In recent decades narrow AI has made its way into various fields, notably finance and the military.
However, as impressive as they may be, the latest AI systems aren't truly intelligent. They process enormous amounts of data very quickly but, like Clever Hans and his arithmetic tricks, they are chimeras.
I feel that we will succeed, in a not too distant future, to scan the human nervous system and create a model of our biological intelligence. And by subsequently coupling this model to a quantum computer of sufficient processing power, we will create a superintelligent artificial intelligence or ASI.
So, is AI good or bad? Like almost all human inventions, it all depends and the use we make of the tool. Narrow AI is without doubt a promising and extremely useful tool and has already shown its potential in various fields such as medicine. Unfortunately, the media circus surrounding some of the current uses of narrow AI are a distraction. The immediate goals are to stir up investor interest and boost share prices and dividends not to mention to attract investors and research dollars.
You can consult the Science in SPECIATION page for more information on this and other topics.
