My friend Blake Dowling is an evil clever fixer of all things computer. His company Aegis is a leader in the information technology industry.
Blake recently wrote an intelligent column on the online platform, Florida Politics, about why we shouldn’t be afraid of artificial intelligence and its applications in our world today. Maybe a little too smart.
As I thought back on my interactions with Blake, it was necessary to think back to those points in his column that gave me comfort.
When Blake visited my office last week, I reached out to shake his hand, and he said, “Now I’m shaking your hand Gary Yordon.” All right.
When I asked him if he wanted water he said no and asked if I had a screwdriver. It was still morning and I suggested it was a little early for vodka and he said, very funny Gary Yordon, I’m not thirsty, thirsty, thirsty. I need a real sc, sc, sc, screwdriver, screwdriver. Mmm
After he left my office, I started wondering, is Blake Dowling human? I mean, his column is exactly what an AI bot would write to make us feel better about the influence of AI in our lives. And in what commercial arena would a robot begin to blend in as it infiltrates our institutions? Yes, information technology. Boom!
The truth is, I am absolutely concerned about AI. Taking our faces and voices and superimposing them on other people, writing music, political speeches, doing homework and creating videos that mimic all things human. Hey Alexa, how long until AI is smarter than us? Alexa, three years ago.
And that’s the little stuff. Remember the scene from the movie Terminator when the robot was in a prison cell and turned into liquid metal then reformed on the other side of the bars?
Well, scientists at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh have taken gallium, a metal that melts at room temperature, and spiked it with magnetic particles. When an alternating magnetic field passes through the metal, the particles can melt and become liquid, move across the bars and reform on the other side of the bars as metal. Yeah, watching that video ruined my lunch. I thought about calling Blake and asking if his company sells gallium, but I thought this might tip him off.
I’m fine with telling my wife Berneice I got toilet paper and then I have a dozen bidet ads on my Twitter page. We’ve all gotten used to that intrusion.
No, what troubles me is the idea that my lawnmower could turn to liquid and reanimate through our cat door and chase us. I don’t want a mower that’s smarter than me. (I can hear our kids reading this and thinking aloud, too late dad)
I’m disturbed that we live in a world where I got emotional because I saw a video of Donald Trump finally admitting to causing January 6, only to see the real Donald Trump deny it an hour later and claim AI ​Donald was a hoax perpetrated by super by imposing his face and voice on a Mike Pence ad for Prevagen. It’s a Comma 22 that makes my head explode.
Look, I’m 97% sure Blake Dowling is human. He’s a graduate of the University of Florida, so that pretty much puts the kibosh on any higher intelligence. But Blake knows these things and delves into the latest developments, so his comfort comes from information, not old movies.
Blake references the Terminator movie in his column. His sense is that our indoctrination is partly because every AI movie we grew up with was usually about something apocalyptic, so our fear arose from those exposures. I can buy it up to a point, but I’m still not thrilled with machines that never sleep, supplanting human creativity and interaction.
The truth is, I can’t do any of this, and maybe that’s the scariest part. I would feel so much better if I felt that AI was happening for us, instead of us.
But for now, Hey Alexa, can a human outrun a lawn mower?
Gary Yordon is a host of the WCTV political show ‘The Usual Suspects’ and chairman of The Zachary Group. You can find his podcast, “Banana Peel Boulevard” at thepeelpodcast.com or on the Apple, Amazon Music and Spotify platforms.
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