AI is a puzzle for me. Sometimes, I think it is the greatest abomination to occur on the face of this earth. Other times, the opposite is what I think.
I realize that I’ve been using AI for a long, long time. Long before “AI” became a household word, it has been in our lives. Robby, my robot floor cleaner, must use AI. How would he be able to clean my kitchen floor, know when to turn around and go the other way after bumping into the walls or cabinets or a chair in the kitchen. How would he respond to the electronic guard that keeps him in the kitchen and not wandering about my hallway and other parts of my house.
I’ve always suspected that there is a little something suspicious about his apparent innate capabilities. I’ve wondered if there is some internal mechanism that allows him to converse with “the big giant they” and tell them everything about the layout of my house. Does that make me paranoid?
And, now, I learn that specific floor-cleaning robots made in China either have been or are in the process of being banned from the United States. WHY? Because they have an innate capability of communicating with the “big giant they” and telling everything about your house layout. Hmmm … maybe, I’m not so paranoid, after all. And, keeping Robby confined to the kitchen, if he can communicate, he can only tell about the kitchen layout, the dust that he has taken from the floor, and, then, when the battery is used for that day, is taken back to the charger to stay in one place until it’s time for him to work again – in the kitchen.
And, then, there’s Alexa. I remember when the young many who gave Alexa to me at Christmas, introduced the gift by saying, “Now, Ms. B. I’m giving you a gift, and I don’t want you to be afraid. It’s technology.” He set Alexa up with my computer, and she has worked ever sense. Well, unless, the Wi-Fi goes down as it did last Sunday morning, at exactly 12:35 am. I eventually learned that there was an outage with the service (Comcast) that didn’t get corrected until later Sunday morning.
I don’t ask Alexa to provide anything for me except the temperature and the forecast. I know folks who allow Alexa or some variation to run their entire house. Lock windows. Lock and open doors. Open and close the garage door. Be their alarm clock. I won’t allow Alexa to do any of that. She must be very bored, because I do, occasionally thank her for her response, and she sings (SINGS) to me that “You’re very, very, very, very welcome!”
Alexa is always listening – always! I have tested this on occasion. Standing in another part of my house, a room or two away, I say in a loud voice, “Alexa, what is the temperature.” And, she answers me. She is always listening! That’s scary. What else does she know about my life in my house? Does she give that information to anyone else?
Have you seen the robots in China who are boxing (why does a robot need to learn how to perform the brutal act of boxing?) and participating in track and field “competitions?” If you want to see something REALLY SCARY, take a look at those Chinese robots doing their thing. One of the robots surpassed the record set by Usain Bolt (whoever that is) in a 100-meter sprint. The robot has a name – Tiangong Ultra. Now, we’re giving robots a name (?) – well, truth be told, I call my floor cleaner – Robby. So … As I said, these robots have to be working hand-in-glove with AI.
Having said this, there are aspects of AI that I use daily and find particularly helpful. These are the AI aspects that I use on my computer. I rarely open my beloved American Heritage dictionary, any more. When I’m typing and get stuck not knowing whether a word is spelled “this way or that,” I go straight to AI, my search engine, and ask for the spelling. For example, I cannot seem to remember if the word – senyru or senryu – is correct. FYI – senryu is correct. AI will also define the word for me, if I wish. Or any other word. And, if I misspell a word when asking, AI corrects the spelling for me.
I also can ask about a very complicated issue. Such as the question: I have an orthopaedic chair that has a pneumatic cylinder and it won’t stay in the position where I want it. why
AI responds: “These are results for I have an orthopedic chair that has a pneumatic cylinder and it won’t stay in the position where I want it. why”
And, the answer is:
AI Overview
Your chair won’t stay in place usually because the pneumatic (gas) cylinder’s internal seals have worn out and leaked the compressed nitrogen gas.” (And, it goes on with a full explanation, tells me where to get parts to fix the problem, etc.)
You will also notice that when asking the question, I didn’t use proper English or capitals or punctuation or spelling. (That’s AI for you.) A caution: AI is NOT always right. You need to be a thinker and problem solver to make that judgment.
As we watch our children progressing through the grades, we look askance at the growing use of computers in the classroom. What is the teacher’s role in all of this? How are the computers really used? Are they supplemental? Or, as in some schools, has the idea of instruction been left to AI? When will robots become the educator of the future? (How will a robot know that a child has come to school hungry? Or, has come from a home that is basically dysfunctional?) Who will be teaching critical thinking skills – that so many of my friends think our young people are sorely lacking, these days? Who will pose the questions necessary requiring students to think – not getting answers from AI on the computer? How will we know that a composition has been human-written and not generated by AI? How will students learn to be communicators – either oral or written? Teachers tell me, today, that it is already a problem. How long will it be before we don’t have human teachers?
Development of AI has been decades in coming. It may have begun centuries ago (or before), with the advent of machines such as the Jacquard weaving machine. Until the invention of the Jacquard weaving machine, weavers laid in every thread individually. Along came Joseph Marie Jacquard with punch cards that revolutionized the process, allowing for very intricate patterns.
In New Mexico, watching the weavers at Tierra Wools work their looms, shuttle by shuttle, it is easy to understand how the Jacquard machine simplified the process, making the work easier. Of course, the Jacquard weaving was very standard with no variation. The Tierra Wools weavers made very weaving an individual piece of art. And, thinking further back about weaving, the Native American Weavers, working on vertical looms, did that, too.
Punch Cards. Do you remember when computers used punch cards to operate. When those punch cards with their myriad of holes were discarded, they served well in the construction of ornaments for the Christmas tree. Punch cards were still in use when I worked at a nationally known and beloved research center for adult and children patients with respiratory diseases. That was as far (and as recent) as 1979, folks!
What will we – humans – do with AI? With Robots? There are many, very frightening scenarios, movies, books, and articles about what AI is capable of doing now and becoming in the very near future. Will we allow AI to become the master of the world? As I said, many say that it is already affecting the thinking of our children, as well as older adults. Or, will we harness the product, keep it in check, and make good use of this invention?
Only time will tell.
Be Safe and Be Well
The Cranky Crone
Thoughtful comments are always welcome.
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