I want you to think of all the instances of famous A.I. in the media decades ago. Some example may include Steve Urkel as “Robo steve”, and lost in space’s “Danger Will Robinson” B9. These were family tv shows that existed when t.v. was the cell phone of its day consumption wise.
Describe the feeling if you can of seeing humans interact with robots. Uncomfortable, weird, Exciting?. You may not have been aware but these were the early stages of preparing you for wants to come today.
Like anything else we consume materially, A.I. has a creator. The focus should be on the morals and ethics of those creating the A.I.
It’s easy to see A.I. as a separate entity from the movies, news clips, self-less driving cars, etc. The more we humanize A.I. the more we become desensitized to its shortcomings.
When we highlight the benefits of A.I. its important to remember that someone designed that. It’s important to see the face behind the creation to remind us that it’s..not us…If this sounds far out could have anyone imagined 25 years ago that cell phone usage would become an addiction?
Humanizing A.I. is a psychological response to half a century of extreme capitalism in the west. We’ve been programmed to consume more than to question. In Barry Schwartz’s book The paradox of choice, he details how too many options lead to anxiety and para-analysis.
Not only are there too many options but we don’t take time to analyze what we consume. We consume food and don’t read labels. We can’t pronounce or explain what 90% of what is on the back on these labels as well.
At best we will look for the “Made in” whatever country label is on something we purchase. China has over 1.3 billion people, but a made in China logo doesn’t tell you anything about how was manufactured or what inspired it. Before the monopoly of digital music, we purchased cassette tapes and CDs.
Within these items were thank you notes from the artist. The artist listed people and situations in their life that inspired them to “create” this piece of music. Today, we consume music by selecting which songs we want with no care or information on what inspired the album.
Whether intentionally or not, society is dividing us while preparing the solution of A.I., a solution that doesn’t involve us. Politics influences how and what technology you consume shouldn’t be overlooked when dealing with A.I. ethics either.
Does humanizing A.I. have any benefits? Working with A.I. to make faster unbias decisions that could determine someone’s freedom is definitely progress for society. However, when we lose sight of the creator and focus on the creation we what happens. Idols are formed, we lose self-confidence in our ability as human beings, we look externally for answers.
While it sounds so simple and obvious to highlight the ethics of developers, if overlooked it creates a terrible foundation for the future and dangers of A.I. Also for all the talk about racial bias when implementing algorithms, different measures and standards will have to be used for fairness.
In conclusion, Will diversity/cultural training be pre-requisites for developers? This isn’t a Starbuck’s training on racism as a marketing ploy either, this is serious. Capitalism is designed to benefit off the disadvantage of others
The success of A.I. will depend on how deep we are willing to look within our hearts to have compassion and empathy for what developing. Rather than just being in awe of the design.
Independent thinker Sam Grays created Resonance News to Empower rather than entertain viewers with true objective media. No more news that insults your intelligence with just Right or left wing division.