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Artificial Intelligence

Mike Stafford

Mike Stafford

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AI seems to be in the news a lot recently. Many discussions of it are going on and whether or not it is a danger to us is one of the main topics.

These two men have carried AI to an amazing level. In this video clip these two men who only met 2 days before this show had worked together only through the internet to develop these techniques. They have created an AI technology that creates a real human face and how it moves.

Amazing! Do you remember Colossus: The Forbin Project, Wargames, 2001- A Space Odyssey, Terminator or The Matrix movies? They all, to one degree or another, depict a runaway computer intelligence. Well, that intelligence may be upon us sooner than we think. This is an amazing clip from America's Got Talent.

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I could use some right now, artificial or real. Last week a power outage killed my modem a surge came through. Yesterday I had a new modem put on but, for whatever reason, my iPhone will not connect to the internet and my texts do not go through. AI would help but a 12 year old might be more better to help solve this.
 
Personally, and I know a lot out there think I am a dinosaur in my thinking, but to me AI is going a bit too far. Even Elon Musk has stated he has reservations about it. I know technology is a cool thing, and I like some toys like any other person. But, to me AI, and some other things such as cloning, etc., is just going too danged far. I always remember what Ian Malcolm said in Jurassic Park. "Just because you can does not mean that you should." Ignoring that simple statement could be our undoing.
 
I think AI has the potential to bring great things to this world. I also think mankind will miss that bus completely and use AI for things like targeted ads and viral TicTok videos. :rolleyes: I can also see it accelerating the dumbing down of humanity as more and more kids use it to cheat on school papers. Before AI, a teacher could do a quick Google search to see if text had been plagiarized. With AI, the text will be unique and harder to prove it wasn't written by the student.
 
Vaughn McMillan said:
With AI, the text will be unique and harder to prove it wasn't written by the student.
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Nah just check the references because the AI's currently used will just straight up make them up.

Most of the current AI is neither artificial nor intelligent but they sure are doing a good job of making it "the next thing everyone should be scared of".. gotta keep that fear hype up.
 
I like to read science fiction, mostly way in the future and space stories... almost every book has some sort of AI helping man to run the ships, aid in targeting the bad guys, etc.... most of what man has thought up in books and stories has come to pass... Jules Verne's submarine, his rocket to the moon, etc.... done right AI will probably aid mankind, but we should also remember HAL from 2001, A SPACE ODYSSEY .

Only things I am not so sure of is time travel and transporter system from Star Trek.
 
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What if the man you see on TV is not the man you are thinking you are seeing?

There was a sci-fi movie many years ago called Looker where models were replaced by computer generated 3-D images. They were just as pretty as the original models but much less expensive. No one knew that the models they were seeing in commercials were not real until the real models started dying.

Can such a thing happen? Who knows? Will we know if it does?
 
Ryan Mooney said:
Nah just check the references because the AI's currently used will just straight up make them up.

Most of the current AI is neither artificial nor intelligent but they sure are doing a good job of making it "the next thing everyone should be scared of".. gotta keep that fear hype up.
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Twas just 10 days ago I had dinner with friends. Liz is a professor at a University in St Catherines, and she'd caught one of those. Student will get a "0" on that exam, and a warning not to do it again. Another occurrence and it will go on their scholastic record.
 
There will ALWAYS be those with evil intentions. How to scam - haters - those who want conquest - those that want to do harm, to steal, to manipulate. Is it possible that AI could be used to stomp on the haters? I doubt it.

So - do we try to remove the AI, so that the AI cannot hurt us?? That does not seem to work with other things like removing things like G...........s

AI has the potential for good.

I love the adaptive cruise control in my car.
 
The spell checker in your word processor program is, and has been for years a form of AI, but nobody is panicking over their word processors. AI is just the next step in automation. It is far from truly "Intelligent, and it's already here in many forms. No need to panic or even increase your heart rate over it. In a generation or two, maybe, but certainly not yet. AI is just the latest "Buzz Word" to strike fear in the lower IQ. In it's present levels, it is nothing at all to fear, but to embrace and enjoy all it can offer to simplify our lives. When is the last time that you picked up a dictionary to find the proper spelling for a word?

Here on Family Woodworking there is a spell checker that is watching everything that we type, and warning us when we type something incorrectly by underlining it in red. We then go back and change the spelling until the red line goes away. This is a form of AI. It doesn't work well for everything, especially new tech buzz words, but it does help us keep our messages closer in meaning to what we intended.

New Pro Cameras and photo editing software packages are beginning to incorporate AI too. It works in a very similar fashion, so far. Warning the photographer about light levels that are "too bright" or "too dark", "excessive contrast", etc. and we can decide if we really want it that way or follow the AI suggestion. Again, nothing to fear about AI. It is a helper, someone looking over your shoulder and suggesting an improvement. A lot of photographers are panicking over this AI "buzz word" too, and wondering if their career will end soon because of it. How is a camera with AI going to decide what to take a picture of and then set itself up at the right time and place with just the right lighting to be able to replace the photographer?

Back to woodworking. How is AI going to select the wood and specific pieces for a project? How is it going to decide what to make? Wouldn't it be nice to have something watching our cutting layouts and warning us that one of our dimensions doesn't match the plans, so we can decide if we want it that way or want to go back and change it. What fantastic waste prevention that would be. Don't fear AI, Embrace it and all it can do for us in the near future. Let those in future generations deal with the "Total Control" version of AI. It's a long way off, and easy to limit to safe levels, as long as we don't allow those in Washington to have total control over it.

Charley
 
Charles Lent said:
The spell checker in your word processor program is, and has been for years a form of AI, but nobody is panicking over their word processors. AI is just the next step in automation. It is far from truly "Intelligent, and it's already here in many forms. No need to panic or even increase your heart rate over it. In a generation or two, maybe, but certainly not yet. AI is just the latest "Buzz Word" to strike fear in the lower IQ. In it's present levels, it is nothing at all to fear, but to embrace and enjoy all it can offer to simplify our lives. When is the last time that you picked up a dictionary to find the proper spelling for a word?

Here on Family Woodworking there is a spell checker that is watching everything that we type, and warning us when we type something incorrectly by underlining it in red. We then go back and change the spelling until the red line goes away. This is a form of AI. It doesn't work well for everything, especially new tech buzz words, but it does help us keep our messages closer in meaning to what we intended.

New Pro Cameras and photo editing software packages are beginning to incorporate AI too. It works in a very similar fashion, so far. Warning the photographer about light levels that are "too bright" or "too dark", "excessive contrast", etc. and we can decide if we really want it that way or follow the AI suggestion. Again, nothing to fear about AI. It is a helper, someone looking over your shoulder and suggesting an improvement. A lot of photographers are panicking over this AI "buzz word" too, and wondering if their career will end soon because of it. How is a camera with AI going to decide what to take a picture of and then set itself up at the right time and place with just the right lighting to be able to replace the photographer?

Back to woodworking. How is AI going to select the wood and specific pieces for a project? How is it going to decide what to make? Wouldn't it be nice to have something watching our cutting layouts and warning us that one of our dimensions doesn't match the plans, so we can decide if we want it that way or want to go back and change it. What fantastic waste prevention that would be. Don't fear AI, Embrace it and all it can do for us in the near future. Let those in future generations deal with the "Total Control" version of AI. It's a long way off, and easy to limit to safe levels, as long as we don't allow those in Washington to have total control over it.

Charley
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Slight correction...the spell checker is built into your browser, not the forum itself. ;)

I don't fear AI, but I also don't trust mankind to use it only for honorable uses. I'm not worried about computers taking over the world, but it would be a relatively trivial task for someone to create a video of a political figure or other celebrity saying or doing something to ruin their reputation. You are right about some level of AI being used for years in varying forms. (The new AI noise reduction in Photoshop Lightroom is awesome.) But I also see a lot of ads for AI software that writes blog posts and advertising copy. As a writer I see that as a threat to jobs and an excuse for future generations to become less and less capable of writing a cohesive sentence. (That skill has already nearly vanished anyway.) Same with music produced by AI. Considering how formulaic popular music is these days, it would be fairly easy for someone to use AI to produce a hit song. As a musician, I see that as a dilution or cheapening of the art.
 
Charles Lent said:
The spell checker in your word processor program is, and has been for years a form of AI, but nobody is panicking over their word processors. AI is just the next step in automation. It is far from truly "Intelligent, and it's already here in many forms. No need to panic or even increase your heart rate over it. In a generation or two, maybe, but certainly not yet. AI is just the latest "Buzz Word" to strike fear in the lower IQ. In it's present levels, it is nothing at all to fear, but to embrace and enjoy all it can offer to simplify our lives. When is the last time that you picked up a dictionary to find the proper spelling for a word?

Here on Family Woodworking there is a spell checker that is watching everything that we type, and warning us when we type something incorrectly by underlining it in red. We then go back and change the spelling until the red line goes away. This is a form of AI. It doesn't work well for everything, especially new tech buzz words, but it does help us keep our messages closer in meaning to what we intended.

New Pro Cameras and photo editing software packages are beginning to incorporate AI too. It works in a very similar fashion, so far. Warning the photographer about light levels that are "too bright" or "too dark", "excessive contrast", etc. and we can decide if we really want it that way or follow the AI suggestion. Again, nothing to fear about AI. It is a helper, someone looking over your shoulder and suggesting an improvement. A lot of photographers are panicking over this AI "buzz word" too, and wondering if their career will end soon because of it. How is a camera with AI going to decide what to take a picture of and then set itself up at the right time and place with just the right lighting to be able to replace the photographer?

Back to woodworking. How is AI going to select the wood and specific pieces for a project? How is it going to decide what to make? Wouldn't it be nice to have something watching our cutting layouts and warning us that one of our dimensions doesn't match the plans, so we can decide if we want it that way or want to go back and change it. What fantastic waste prevention that would be. Don't fear AI, Embrace it and all it can do for us in the near future. Let those in future generations deal with the "Total Control" version of AI. It's a long way off, and easy to limit to safe levels, as long as we don't allow those in Washington to have total control over it.

Charley
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Vaughn McMillan said:
Slight correction...the spell checker is built into your browser, not the forum itself. ;)

I don't fear AI, but I also don't trust mankind to use it only for honorable uses. I'm not worried about computers taking over the world, but it would be a relatively trivial task for someone to create a video of a political figure or other celebrity saying or doing something to ruin their reputation. You are right about some level of AI being used for years in varying forms. (The new AI noise reduction in Photoshop Lightroom is awesome.) But I also see a lot of ads for AI software that writes blog posts and advertising copy. As a writer I see that as a threat to jobs and an excuse for future generations to become less and less capable of writing a cohesive sentence. (That skill has already nearly vanished anyway.) Same with music produced by AI. Considering how formulaic popular music is these days, it would be fairly easy for someone to use AI to produce a hit song. As a musician, I see that as a dilution or cheapening of the art.
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I think Charley is right .... I was great in school at spelling, but as I get older, it's a real help if my computer/word processor helps me with the spelling... they even have a program that can correct grammar, which a lot of people could use. I'm no expert, but sometimes I find a sentence in a book that the grammar is off... it stops me every time to figure out what they are really saying.

As for the cameras, I need all the help I can get with my photography...

Not so sure I like the idea of computers generating music... we've had the synthesizers (need spell check with that one) for years... I liked some of it, but my preference is human made music and a singer that can stand at a mic and croon a song without all the dancing and gyrations.
 
Chuck Ellis said:
...I was great in school at spelling, but as I get older, it's a real help if my computer/word processor helps me with the spelling... they even have a program that can correct grammar, which a lot of people could use. I'm no expert, but sometimes I find a sentence in a book that the grammar is off... it stops me every time to figure out what they are really saying.
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I use spell-check every single day. I'm still a good speller, but my typing has gotten worse as I've gotten older, so my fumble-fingers make quite a few mistakes.. Knowing that spell-check exists on virtually every device used today, it bugs me when people don't take the time to go back and fix the errors that the computer (or phone or tablet) is pointing out to them. Auto-correct is also handy, but I see a lot of people who don't go back and read what words auto-correct has changed for them. Auto-correct is my worst enema. :D

Chuck Ellis said:
...Not so sure I like the idea of computers generating music... we've had the synthesizers (need spell check with that one) for years... I liked some of it, but my preference is human made music and a singer that can stand at a mic and croon a song without all the dancing and gyrations.
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A synthesizer is just another instrument, with a human playing the notes. I have a guitar synthesizer. It's a regular Fender Stratocaster with some extra electronics. I still have to play it though. It doesn't play itself. It does a presentable job of emulating various keyboards and stringed instruments. It's not uncommon for people to come up to me during a break at a gig and ask me where the piano player (or orchestra) is hiding. But it's still me (a semi-human) playing the notes in the right place and the right order. (Let's be honest here. The notes are usually in about the right place and the order is close to being right. After all, this is me we're talking about here.)

AI music is a different beast, where the computer decides what notes to play and what order to play them in. The computer can also "write" the lyrics, but it's just copying all the other songs before it. (Sort of like today's pop country music, where every song mentions pickup trucks, beer, and girls with painted-on jeans, lol.)
 
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As a big fan of science fiction I am reminded of the Robot and Foundation novels by Isaac Asimov. In this series of books robots that are indistinguishable from humans exist. They are able to do anything that a human can do with a few exceptions. They cannot create beautiful music or art. They can reproduce beautiful music and art but their positronic brains cannot conceive of new music or new art. They have no imagination and they cannot lie. They cannot reproduce. Oh, they can build another robot but that is not the same as creating life.

Interestingly enough in Asimov's novels there are no all-powerful evil robots. They are constrained by the three laws. The laws are as follows: “(1) a robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm; (2) a robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law; (3) a robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.” Since the positronic brain of these robots can learn and retain information they would be considered artificial intelligence but the three laws prevents them from doing evil.

Will the AI" brains" man is creating now have any such restraints? Let us hope so.
 
Chuck Ellis said:
I was great in school at spelling, but as I get older, it's a real help if my computer/word processor helps me with the spelling.
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I've always been terrible at spelling, some words like "their" I can't ever get right (i before e they say.. sigh.. a touch of dyslexia I suppose). Spelling checking has been a huge boon for me. Oddly? I still find it easier to compose prose long hand and then transcribe it into the computer later (which can then assist in correcting my foibles).

Mike Stafford said:
Interestingly enough in Asimov's novels there are no all-powerful evil robots
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I think my favorite "Evil Robot" science fiction is Alfred Bester's 1954 short story 'Fondly Fahrenheit' which is very surreal, more than slightly murderous, and with just the right touch of exuberant insanity

We're left not quite sure if it's the robot or the man in the end... You can find copies floating around in various dark places (like old copies of Astounding) if.. you.. dare... Bester is one of the better authors almost no one remembers.

Keith Laumer's Bolo Universe is also quite good from a military sci-fi perspective.
 
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