The New York Times published a “special report” on AI, detailing AI’s functions throughout our lives. One piece discusses the use of AI in sports, while another describes how scientists are using AI to learn about the ocean. Spending a little time on this publication and reading just a few of the pieces was fascinating and eye-opening. I’m reminded of tropes in some of the short stories we have read in which humans become entirely dependent on robots. For now, I am excited by all of the potential uses and good that AI can provide for us. Certainly, it is a lot more efficient to use machine learning to search through 180,000 hours of underwater recordings than to do it through manpower alone. But, seeing all of these applications of AI in one place makes you think. When will we go too far? I believe it’s only a matter of time before AI is involved in everything that we do. The article on AI in sports begs the question: at what point am I no longer watching sports and marveling at what the human body can achieve, but rather what machines can? This special report from the NYT is not exactly science fiction, but I think seeing all of these stories on AI in a major publication shows that the themes and questions SF authors have dealt with for decades regarding AI-human interaction are no longer a problem of the future or the fictional.
Thanks for posting this Audrey! I didn’t realize AI was so prevalent in every facet of my life, even at this point. This brought to mind a ton of thoughts about how “human” we are trying to make machines and what does it mean that computers are progressing at a rate that may be faster than what we may be able to keep up with.
As a neuro major yourself, I’d be interested to hear more about what your thoughts are. Do you think its possible to coexist with AI, without conflict? How is AI impacting our own cognitive processes and day-to-day? And lastly, where do you hope AI will go?