Guide to Artificial Intelligence
From The Observatory
Editor: Leslie Alan Horvitz
Source: The Observatory
“It really is godlike,” Geoffrey Hinton said about artificial intelligence. He’s been called the ‘godfather of AI’ so he should know. “Magical intelligence in the sky” is how Sam Altman, founder of OpenAI, regards AI, while Peter Thiel, co-founder of PayPal and Palantir, warns that AI could bring about the appearance of the Antichrist. In contrast, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei predicts that AI will result in “the defeat of most diseases, the growth in biological and cognitive freedom, the lifting of billions of people out of poverty… a renaissance of liberal democracy and human rights.” Is AI really so transformative, or is it an evanescent trend whose importance has been overhyped?
This guide won’t give you the answers. It certainly won’t tell you whether AI is going to be a harbinger of the Antichrist. What it can do, though, is explore issues revolving around AI which have yet to be resolved and which are almost certain to be with us for years to come.1
By Sharon Kumar | From Earth Food Life Project
As AI adoption accelerates, data centers built to power the technology are placing unprecedented demands on the U.S. electric grid. These soaring energy demands and carbon footprint raise urgent concerns about sustainability, highlighting the need for greener technologies and policies to mitigate its environmental impact.
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By Leslie Alan Horvitz | From The Observatory
AI is being used on the front lines of the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, mostly with drones that sometimes can function autonomously. The use of AI in warfare raises profound ethical issues, and while human operators are still in charge, the time may not be far off when a weapon relying on AI decides whether to strike and kill an adversary without human intervention.
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Strikes in 2023 by screenwriters and actors were not only triggered by money issues but by the fear that their work and images would be replaced by AI, saving Hollywood studios money while putting their employees out of work. Artists, too, are afraid that with their capacity to produce original images, AI programs may make them obsolete. Is there any way to stem the tide? Is AI capable of being creative, or is that a uniquely human feature?
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Large Language Models (LLMs), which are the foundation of AI systems, are constructed by gobbling up staggering amounts of texts, images, music, and videos from a variety of sources including books, newspapers and the Internet (where the process is called ‘scraping.’) The Silicon Valley companies responsible for these LLMs claim ‘fair use,’ but many publishers and news organizations assert that they’re taking their intellectual property without paying for it. Many of these disputes are still playing out in courts. Even regulators like the U.S. Copyright Office are racing to catch up to the new technology.
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By Marjorie Hecht | From Human Bridges Project
A look at the pioneering research going on in the laboratory of investigator Levin of Tufts University, focusing on xenobots, miniaturized robots partly created by AI. These microscopic xenobots demonstrate several types of unexpected behavior in Petri dishes. The results of Levin’s studies may one day help build cells wherever in the body they’re needed, providing doctors with the capacity to correct birth defects, serious injuries, cognitive problems, and diseases and disorders of aging.
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By Sharon Kumar | From The Observatory
A handful of AI platforms enjoy the lion’s share of popularity as more and more users take advantage of them. Is one better than the other? What are their advantages, and what are the potential hazards (they’re called hallucinations) we need to watch for before we take the plunge?
