Larry Kilham Blog |
Let us dispel the startling statements and popular movie themes telling us that artificial intelligence will greatly exceed human intelligence in just a few decades. There have been startling statements and popular movies telling us that artificial intelligence will greatly exceed human intelligence in just a few decades. There may be little doubt that this will be the case for applications mostly requiring massive and repetitive computing, but is not so certain for projects requiring significant imagination and creativity. In any case, it is highly unlikely that androids will be running around conquering the world.
AI Computers can access very large databases. They can be used in detailed multidimensional design. They can manage vast projects. There is talk of computer-like nanorobots that can circulate around in your body. There are even computer programs to invent new devices. However, as far as I am aware, no computer independently came up with the general theory of relativity. Timothy Lee summarized the AI and robots limitations nicely in his story in Vox. See the the story here. I write about this in detail in my new book,Winter of the Genomes available at Amazon. Recently I was eating a sandwich in the food court of a shopping center. A homeless man settled near me, squatted down, and started rummaging through his collection of things—assorted rags, plastic bottles, scraps of paper—and a smartphone. Ignoring me, he started tapping its screen. Startled, and intrigued by where his cyber journey might be taking him, I asked, “Who are you contacting?” and he answered, “I use it for everything.” It was his entire life.
Social media apparently is the most popular use of smartphones with Facebook installed in 70% of them. Google and other search engines, the portals to the world’s knowledge, are installed in fewer smartphones—about 58% in early 2015. This ranking may increase now that search engines can be queried by voice. The average user checks their smart phone more than 100 times a day. The situation gets worse with children and teens. They look first to smartphone sources for advice and guidance, and, if time permits, their parents and teachers. They may be bright, but they are self-absorbed to the exclusion of everything else. What is going on? Are we falling into an inescapable black hole? This is a key discussion in my new book , The Digital Rabbit Hole. Let us imagine today’s version of a classic story… Alice was so excited about visiting Europe for the first time, but she quickly became tired of sitting by her sister on the flight to London. Her sister was absorbed in a boring book with no pictures or music. “I don’t know why people read books,” thought Alice, “when they can see everything in color and sound on their smartphone.” She snuggled down in her seat, grasping her glowing smartphone and began listening to it through her tiny earphones. She glanced now and then at the distant clouds to see if she could see one that looked like a sheep or a giraffe. Suddenly a white rabbit appeared on the windowsill. He took a smartphone out of his vest, glanced at it attentively, and said, “Be quick, follow me, or we will miss the tea.” Alice jumped up, and excited for a little adventure, ran after him. The rabbit tapped his smartphone screen, and Alice’s smartphone screen came to life with a live video of some people and creatures sitting around a picnic table having tea. “Hurry up,” he said, as he disappeared down a hole under a hedge. Alice followed and found herself falling weightlessly, with the wall of the tunnel fading out of view. “Is there a bottom?” she wondered. She was so absorbed by it all that she forgot to be afraid. In this new world, Cyberland, Alice could find no places to eat, no malls, only some strangers sitting around a picnic table having tea. Then, boom! Alice hit the ground. She struggled to her wobbly feet and scraped her head on the roof of a space with no walls in any direction. A button appeared on her smartphone labeled “click here.” Alice clicked without thinking about what could happen next and found herself shrinking. The rabbit appeared again. “You are as tall as me!” Alice cried. “So?” he said. “Hurry, we’re late!” This Alice in Cyberland scenario is no longer fantasy. More and more people—almost all of the younger generations—are falling down digital rabbit holes. We all make forays into digital places where our friends can be found, or information can be gathered, or adventures and discovery awaits. For centuries, social groups, books, libraries, songs, movies, and other media fulfilled those functions, but they were optional behavior. Now we have the Internet, which is not optional. It is a digital rabbit hole we fall into and cannot escape. The doors and windows to this infinite cyberland is the smartphone. There are two basic reasons why this trend is happening and will become pervasive and controlling: 1- Technology – Perpetual digital connection to everything and too easy to get an apparent answer rather than devise one of our own. 2- Human nature – least action, convenience, good enough, alive enough, irrelevance, distractions. See more at the Rabbit Hole page. |