Having just returned to work after an educational professional conference at Skamania Lodge in Washington (the state), I have lots of thoughts and observations to share today. Setting aside for a moment the obvious meat-market side of the conference where it felt at times less about education and more about dressing up for a night at the club, having lots of free flowing drinks and a loud dance floor for men and women liberated from their spouses for a few nights to have a little “fun” while the cat is away, I did come away with some new and exciting things to try. And no, these are not sexual (well most of them).
For starters, I learned that in silicon valley if you are invited to a party (which I most certainly would not be) that it is almost certain that someone is going to ask you what your your p(doom) is. Your p(doom), if you are not familiar, is your personal prediction of how likely it is that AI is going be the end of humanity as we know it. Basically it’s what percentage chance do you put on the probability that AI is going to end in our inevitable doom. My p(doom), thanks for asking, is probably around 5%. I think it is possible, but not likely. And, according to our keynote speaker, that would make me extremely optimistic among those in silicon valley.
Another thing I learned is that, according to the New York Times journalist who gave the closing keynote speech, even the experts have no real understanding about HOW AI “thinks” and makes decisions. It is like, he said, we have been putting questions into a mysterious black box that spits out answers for us but inside the box is some strange alien consciousness, totally alien to this world, and we have no idea what it is or what it wants. I’m paraphrasing here, but the concept was indeed intriguing. Is AI some sort of advanced consciousness or a way for an alien species to communicate with us? I doubt it, but it’s fun to think about.
I have decided that, for the sake of conversation, I’m going to continue blogging about my experience with AI, and sharing with you some of my “unique” perspectives.
I will start today by telling you about two interesting discoveries, the biggest perhaps being “There is an AI for That”. This website offers thousands of AI tools that you can play with that do everything from helping you lose weight (something I’m trying out now called AICalorieCounter which claims to be the world’s first AI calorie counter) to writing filthy erotica about your family and friends called DreamPress AI (another thing I’m trying out).
So, I encourage you all to try out as many tools as you can and put them through the paces so you can share what it will and won’t do for you and how AI might improve or destroy society. When you feel comfortable, you can even share your own p(doom) with the rest of us.
