Guide to Artificial Intelligence
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Editor: Leslie Alan Horvitz
Source: The Observatory
“It really is godlike,” says Geoffrey Hinton 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 a harbinger of the Antichrist. What it can do, though, is explore AI’s unresolved issues, which will almost certainly be with us for years to come1
By Sharon Kumar | From Earth Food Life Project
Data centers built to power AI are placing unprecedented demands on the U.S. electric grid. Their energy appetite is gargantuan. Sharon Kumar looks at some of the startling implications of this phenomenon.
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By Leslie Alan Horvitz | From The Observatory
Already, 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 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 also 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 concerned that their ability to produce original images may render them obsolete with the advent of AI programs. 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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By Leslie Alan Horvitz | From The Observatory
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, such as 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. Xenobots demonstrate several types of unexpected behavior in Petri dishes. The results of Levin’s studies may one day help build cells in the body wherever 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?
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By Richard Heinberg | From Earth Food Life Project
In this article, Richard Heinberg examines the drawbacks of AI and goes so far as to argue that its development should be halted before it destroys humanity. Research, he says, is advancing by leaps and bounds, but oversight and regulation have lagged behind, putting us in danger of catastrophic consequences if AI is allowed to go unchecked. Heinberg discusses some of the problems that AI now poses: growing wealth inequality, energy strain, and AI’s tendency to produce hallucinations–false information. If Heinberg is right, there’s worse to come.