On the internet we often come across those CAPTCHA check boxes that say, “I’m not a robot.” Personally, I hate the ones that make you select from the blurry and grainy photos. “Select the boxes with fire hydrants.” And you’re squinting to try to make out what's in the pictures.
And then you have the ones where you have to enter the number and letter code from the wonky image above the field.
On the website for my Toastmasters Club, there's an AI tool for practicing my speeches and presentations. That’s right, I can record my speech and get feedback from a robot. It’ll count my ahs and ums, point out weak words, filler words, repeated phrases, and the like.
Me:
List 10 human functions that Artificial Intelligence can do.
ChatGPT:
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has advanced significantly in recent years, enabling it to perform a wide range of tasks traditionally associated with human capabilities. Here are ten human functions that AI can now effectively perform:
Natural Language Processing (NLP): AI can understand, interpret, and generate human language, enabling applications like language translation, chatbots, and sentiment analysis.
Image Recognition and Computer Vision: AI algorithms can analyze and interpret visual information from images and videos, enabling facial recognition, object detection, and medical imaging analysis.
Speech Recognition: AI systems can accurately transcribe spoken language into text, powering virtual assistants like Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant.
Decision-Making and Problem-Solving: AI models can analyze complex data sets to make informed decisions or predictions, such as in finance for risk assessment or in healthcare for diagnosis.
Autonomous Vehicles: AI technology enables self-driving cars to perceive their environment, navigate roads, and make real-time decisions to ensure safe driving.
Robotics: AI-driven robots can perform physical tasks in manufacturing, logistics, healthcare, and even assistive tasks in homes.
Recommendation Systems: AI algorithms power personalized recommendations on platforms like Netflix, Amazon, and Spotify based on user preferences and behavior.
Game Playing: AI systems have achieved superhuman performance in games like chess, Go, and video games, demonstrating advanced strategic thinking and decision-making.
Creativity Support: AI can assist in creative tasks such as art generation, music composition, and storytelling by analyzing patterns and generating novel content.
Medical Diagnostics: AI algorithms can analyze medical images (like X-rays and MRIs), genetic data, and patient records to assist doctors in diagnosing diseases and planning treatments.
These functions highlight the versatility and growing impact of AI across various domains, transforming industries and enhancing human capabilities.
It took ChatGPT about 30 seconds to generate that list. The response is 277 words, about 544 words per minute...
An expert typist can type around 100 words per minute. ChatGPT made the list and typed it out at a speed that's not possible for humans.
Anxiety over progress is summed up in The Ballad of John Henry.
It’s about a strong man who made his living driving railroad spikes.
A man comes to town with a new invention — a steam-powered machine that he claimed could do the work of a dozen or more men.
John Henry challenged the machine in a race to see who could drive the most steel in a day.
John Henry won the race, but then he lay down and died. So in the end, he lost the fight against progress.
The story has a timeless message about advances in technology and the anxiety that it often brings.
Advances in technology transform how we live and work. But with every step, we see the threat of jobs going away.
What’s really shaking things up now is the rise of artificial intelligence and machine learning threatening jobs we once thought were safe.
New technologies might replace jobs, but they also create new opportunities and make things possible that weren’t before.
Online banking lets us take care of money matters 24/7. No more having to stand in line during banking hours, i.e. on lunch break.
Have you seen the 1961 animated Disney film 101 Dalmatians?
It was made a few years after the invention of the Xerox photocopier. The Xerox machine replaced the function of inkers in the animated film industry.
An inker in the animation industry in the 1960s was someone who traced the drawings from the animation artists onto clear celluloid sheets which, after the coloring team added color, would lay over the background art.
Instead of the labor-intensive work of tracing the drawings in ink onto clear celluloid sheets, they could get the image on the cells in an instant.
The scenes with over a hundred animated dogs would have been unthinkable without the new technology.
By the way, I've heard that Disney's inkers got new jobs operating the photocopiers.
There’s been a lot of buzz about Chat GPT and Google Gemini.
They can crank out written content, and do it quickly, much faster than a human. Does that spell the end of human writers?
I think AI writing tools will make people who can write well more valuable. Why is that?
For a computer to do its thing, it has to have not only meaningful input from the user but also meaningful info in the database.
For a computer to “write” something, it has to go to a database of writing snippets. The writing will only be as good as the snippets.
And who writes those snippets? Human writers.
For a computer to drive a truck, it needs input from someone who knows how to drive a truck.
For an airplane to take off and land by computer, it needs knowledge from someone who knows how to fly the plane.
We can resist change, like John Henry, and cling to the old ways...
... or will we embrace progress and find new ways to use our skills and knowledge?
We can embrace new technologies and learn how to work with them.
We can develop new skills and gain new knowledge that will allow us to adapt.
What will you do? Will you resist progress? Or will you find creative ways to use your talents and abilities to work with AI and robotics?
