-P. Pilgrim
Over the past few months a discussion has emerged in the field of A.I, Artificial Intelligence, concerning the need or not for more scrutiny, that is to have more government control over this new technology. Some of the biggest names in the field of technology have called for artificial intelligence labs to stop the training of the most powerful AI systems for at least six months, citing “profound risks to society and humanity.” The South African born Canadian and business magnate Elon Musk was among the dozens of tech leaders, professors and researchers who signed the letter, which was published by the Future of Life Institute, a non-profit backed by Musk. These renowned men have requested that A.I systems should be paused and the time used to jointly develop and implement a set of shared protocols for A.I tools that are safe “beyond a reasonable doubt.” “Advanced A.I could represent a profound change in the history of life on Earth, and should be planned for and managed with commensurate care and resources,” the letter said. However, what is A.I? According to the Encyclopedia Britannica Artificial Intelligence or A.I is the ability of a digital computer or computer-controlled robot to perform tasks commonly associated with intelligent beings. Since the development of the digital computer in the 1940s, it has been demonstrated that computers can be programmed to carry out very complex tasks with great proficiency. Today leading technology service providers are enabling companies to globally automate processes and transform them digitally. Through advancements, artificial intelligence in a limited sense, is found in applications as diverse as medical diagnosis, banking, computer search engines, and voice or handwriting recognition.
So, is this the new industrial revolution? Are men´s heads leaving man´s hands idle? Is this the replacing of humanity for machines that some would like us to believe? Well even the scientist see limitations with A.I. Despite continuing advances in computer processing speed and memory capacity, there are as yet no programs that can match human flexibility over wider domains or in tasks requiring much everyday knowledge. In the Bible, Job and his friend Elihu are talking to each other and his friend says stand still and consider the greatness of the living God. Elihu then asks the question found in Job 37:16 ‘Dost thou know the balancings of the clouds, the wondrous works of him which is perfect in knowledge?’ Can you and I understand the power which the atmosphere has of sustaining vast quantities of watery vapour, either miles above the earth’s surface where the filmy cirrus floats, or lower down where the rain cloud trails along the hill tops. Do we know how the clouds balance it? He compares man’s flawed knowledge to that of God’s omniscient knowledge. He testifies that this knowledge belongs to the one who has perfect in knowledge, the true and living God. No matter how smart man becomes his understanding can’t compare to the one who knows everything. So even if machines become better and better at what they do, it is still a flawed knowledge because it is programmed by man. Man can’t comprehend why the clouds when full of heavy water don’t fall on the earth. Therefore, their knowledge is limited just like A.I machines. A.I has a lack of emotional intelligence that means it may try to mimic human emotions but it will never have the empathy of man. It may have increased abilities, but it can’t go any further than the data that its programmer has given it.
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