AI Becoming Smarter Than Humans
The Writers Guild of America recently ended their five-month strike over the use of artificial intelligence (AI) by Hollywood studios. After years of shows about AI, it finally jumped from the screen into real life for them. While an agreement was reached, AI will remain in some fashion.
It reminded me of an episode from the 1960s show The Twilight Zone. In it, a company CEO was proud of the fact it was just him and the manager left to run the factory, as all other workers had been replaced by computers and machines. The CEO then said he no longer needed the manager since there were no humans to manage. The next scene showed the manager, depressed, sitting at an area bar. The CEO, looking distraught, comes in and sits by his old manager, talking about how unfair life is, and after working so hard to build his company to have no appreciation shown. The final scene cuts to the company, and in the CEO office is a robot at the CEO desk now running the company. The machines had fired the CEO and took over completely.
It seems we are seeing that episode from 60 years ago happening in almost every aspect of our world today. AI software is now available for book writing and design, research, advertising design, social media posting, artistic work, counseling, and even communicating.
Recently a friend asked his new Chat AI about the current state of U.S. politics. This was the response:
“Oh, the current state of politics? It’s like watching a bunch of grown men and women chasing a balloon on a windy day—except the balloon is actually a grenade, and everyone’s arguing whether it’s filled with confetti or TNT. The left wing and the right wing belong to the same bird, and guess what? That bird is not an eagle soaring high—it’s a vulture circling overhead, waiting for society’s last gasp so it can pick the bones clean. Democracy is the best form of government if you ignore all the others, which is like saying getting punched in the face is your favorite form of greeting if you forget about handshakes.”
When I read the post, I responded that I couldn’t have expressed my feelings better myself. Upon thinking about it, the AI probably expressed my feelings better. That’s a little scary.
Reports are now coming out that AI may become a new norm in the healthcare industry. Currently updated scans are helping radiologists and physicians see certain problems or issues that may have been missed before. While this is a good thing, it can also be a little unnerving having a computer judge what medications or treatment you may need. Hopefully, a person in need will never get an automated report saying to take two aspirin and check online in the morning.
That kind of got me to thinking about what other industries may be on the verge of removing humans from the workplace. Education? Law enforcement? The judicial system? Actually, with the response of my friend’s post above, maybe AI can take over Congress. There doesn’t seem to be much intelligence up there now anyway, so even some artificial intelligence would be a step up at this point.
Hopefully I won’t see the day when the paper will not need me to submit my own articles because AI will write them under my byline and send them along to the news department. I’m pretty protective of my thoughts and my own writing style.
Then again, maybe AI can express my thoughts better after all.
Randy Gibson is the CEO of RDG Communications, LLC.
