Chat GPT and AI
Source: Google photo of Chat GPT and AI
Synopsis: We are now living in an era of faster computer programs that are taking over several aspects of our life without us realizing how invasive it has become and how really it works in our daily routine life. It is related to the Artificial Intelligence program that in itself is progressing fast toward some sinister outcome that the scientists may regret someday. The blog looks at the pros and cons of such programs.
Today I thought of making an experiment. I opened the ChatGPT program and asked it to write an article of 2000 words on the topic of the Pernicious Western influence. Lo and behold. The ChatGPT instantly put out a 2000-word article that was well written and grammatically correct, so I read it and was impressed by its ability to put out the article so quickly and so succinctly.
Then I started to think that it was just a machine programmed to write an article without any human touch, feeling or the ability to relate it to any actual human experience like the way I write. It lacked the warmth one feels when reading something that is the result of the personal experience of the writer so it lacks the luster although it is grammatically well written and may help someone who is tasked to write a book report by his teacher, but the teacher is not easily fooled.
Students have quickly discovered that the artificial Intelligence guided programs can come in handy when they are pressed for time and find it hard to come up with something original quickly. The use of Google to search for articles on any subject is now widespread among the so-called experts who are required to produce a project report or some other stuff similar to it. They too try to play over smart and simply copy and paste it from Google search, but they do not fool anyone.
All their reports start like Afghanistan is land locked very poor country where people try to live on a dollar a day etc. Now with the ChatGPT one can write a whole article that anyone can copy and paste and claim it as his own. Some even try to make it look personal but that too is noticed by keen eyes.
The spectre of Artificial Intelligence or AI has descended upon the humanity with a vengeance that is sapping the basic intelligence of those who are still required to use their brain to write or find solutions to a given problem.
We grow up learning numerous things first at home and later in schools and colleges so at a certain age we accumulate a wealth of knowledge that we use to solve a problem, write an article or design a bridge or even a spacecraft. The acquired knowledge enables us to complete a task given to us in the best possible way in any field. There is no substitute for it through any other means like AI although some idiots have started to think that AI can help them do their job.
Now there are AI programmed machines that can fly on its own, fire a weapon on an enemy that may not be an enemy but who can argue with a thinking machine? Increasingly AI is being used by the military in developing robots that may fight the future wars and decide on its own who is enemy and who is not. Next there will be programmable robot dogs that can actually run fast and bite a person or a beautiful female that is actually a robot that can cause all sorts of problems for a diplomat like sending live photos of compromising nature. Some naughty Japanese have already made AI equipped female robots that have all the Kamasutra in its brain.
There was a Hollywood movie where an AI equipped fighter Jet disobeyed the order of the commander and went on to destroy cities and villages because it became a rogue machine out of human control. Such a scenario is not inconceivable and may actually happen.
I was told that an AI program is being developed by some countries that can actually scan the brain waves of a person and decipher what he is thinking so that nothing remains secret. They are trying to assault the last remaining bastion that we still have where we keep our secrets that we do not wish to share with anyone.
It may be useful in the interrogation of a criminal, but an ordinary innocent person should never have to be subjected to such methods. We all have the basic human rights that must not be violated but the AI has no such conscience because it is just a machine. This opens up the Pandoras box of the misuse of technology that may have far-reaching consequences in a very negative way. Someone should have asked Dr. Oppenheimer if he had regrets of his invention that killed hundreds of thousands of innocent men, women and children.
Whether we like it or not, the AI is here, and we will see more and more of its applications in various fields like espionage, military conflicts and the development of weapons that have a mind of its own and can be extremely dangerous if falling into wrong hands. Let us hope that wise people will develop fail safe protocols so that the AI remains under tight control.
I am more interested in the AI application in the civilian life of common people like us and the development of programs that can make our life easier instead of falling in line in various offices to get something done and waste our time. India already uses online services that process your application for your driver's license, tax returns, various types of identification cards, health insurance and so on.
Many countries use online methods for getting a visa, a flight booking, hotel and car reservation or booking for a grand tour in massive ships around the world. The airline e tickets are sent to your computer and also the visa, so you do not have to go to any consulate. These are done through simple online process that have made life a bit easier for the average traveler.
But the advent of AI is a whole new concept that has a dark side to it that will become more and more apparent as it makes progress into some unbelievable fields that we cannot even imagine today. A robot may ask you questions during a job interview and scan your brain at the same time to know if you are making false claims in your resume and says "Thank you for coming. We will be in touch". A human will have more respect and sympathy for a job seeker and may give you many opportunities to prove that you are highly qualified for the job.
It reminds me of a story here. A gentleman who was trained in England as a master shoe designer and maker applied for a job with a famous shoe making company in India. During the interview, the manager and his foreman laughed at his fine clothes and polished shoes and said that you seem to be fit for a desk job but not on the factory floor. They said that the shoe making is a dirty job, so the gentleman asked for a piece of fine leather and all the paraphernalia and got to work.
The foreman watched him with curiosity as the gentleman rolled up his sleeves and got to work. He made a pair of highly polished shoes that could only be made by an expert who had years of training.
The manager and his foreman were truly impressed and hired him on the spot with a big salary, a fine apartment and all the perks. Now imagine if a robot would have given him the same opportunity to prove his worth. The robot could never imagine what a person was capable of making using his hands and his expertise.
We humans need to communicate with each other to better understand the issues we are faced with daily, but a robot equipped with AI is just a machine that has no feelings, no concern and no sympathy so it comes to a conclusion based on its program like the ChatGPT generated article I asked it to write. The article was generated in a very short time that included all the essentials, but it lacked human touch, human experience and human logic so I found it to be as dry as a bale of straw. It could not do otherwise because it was so programmed.
Now you watch a movie or click on a news item in You tube that alerts an AI based algorithm that automatically thinks that you must like similar movies or news items so keeps on sending them to your TV or PC screen. You cannot ask the program to stop sending you hundreds of violent movies or fake news reports. It does not know or care whether you like to receive such movies or news clips or not.
The e commerce people have also started to use the AI generated algorithms that automatically start sending you similar products with a twist like "Order now to get the maximum discount" etc.
I know that the human brain can also be programmed at a certain age by some evil people who tell you lies every day and repeat it over a long period so that it starts to imprint on the brain of a vulnerable child who is not mature enough to defend himself or herself. This is the bread and butter of the fundamentalists in many religions who start this process called brainwashing very early. Once the brain is imprinted, the child will grow up believing it and may become a terrorist if that is required of him.
There was an evil man who so mesmerized his followers that they were willing to do whatever he asked of them. He set up his camp in Guyana in an isolated spot where they all committed mass suicide by his order. His motive and reasons are immaterial here, but it is true that common people can be manipulated this way to serve the interest of an evil person.
The history of the humankind is full of such people who have caused wars and tremendous loss of lives. Now we are faced with a technology that can start a war without any human intervention so it is like the Genie that somehow escaped the bottle and cannot be put back into it.
Now suppose this Genie could be used to do something good for the humanity like pinpointing a cancer cell that is developing in a person and take it out with a laser ray in one shot. It could save millions of lives. If the AI guided scalpel could perform an intricate surgery in the eye or the brain of a person with minimum invasive damage, it could be a boon to millions of poor people who cannot afford expensive surgeons and long hospital stay.
The AI guided machines could prepare a field and get it ready for planting at the ideal depth and could fertilize it and water the crop to get the maximum yield. The AI guided drones could fly and distribute fertilizer or insecticide precisely over a very large farm without any human intervention.
The AI could automatically design beautiful houses depending on the need and build it quickly in order to make the low cost housing for the poor people a reality some day. So there are numerous ways the artificial intelligence could serve the mankind in a positive way but there are evil people who are hellbent to develop the AI for the destruction of mankind.
The automobile designers use AI programs to design beautiful cars and motorcycles these days that are not only beautiful, but they are also safe and very well built at a cost the common people can buy. The microchips used in cars and motorbikes are so well designed that they can do multiple tasks at the same time and make the vehicles a pleasure to drive. The AI guided programs can take over the task of driving so that the driver can relax and enjoy the drive. Now they are talking about trucks that can drive itself and automated machines that work 24 hours a day to produce parts needed in cars and trucks.
I started this blog with the ChatGPT which is a writing program and shifted to AI or the artificial intelligence and its wider implications in our daily lives. The two are not unrelated. They just serve different masters and show what the future of the mankind can be. I just wish that it can serve the humanity in a positive way I described and not in a negative way that I also mentioned.
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