My first thought on what to write about this month is the importance of installing the proper specification fuel line hose in your hot rod. But I later decided to share one more observation on artificial intelligence (AI). I’ll probably tackle the combustible fuel line story next month, so stay tuned!
There is a lot of excitement now concerning AI development and its potential impact on society. You have to have the hype to get the billions of investment dollars. Elon Musk is a master with creating hype. At my level of competence, I thought I would experiment with AI on some items that are of interest to me. My first question was to ask for information on tax laws and strategies concerning international taxation of gifts and inheritance. Since my family lives in Germany, this is of considerable interest to this 92-year-old man. The ChatGPT response was very helpful and credible. I place it in the information category of “trust but verify.”
My next test was more esoteric. I asked for the design of a solid state amplifier for recording human brain wave signals (EEG). One of my design specialties while employed at the Aeromedical Research Lab in New Mexico was the design of such an amplifier that could be used for performance and biodynamic testing as no such device had existed. There was considerable interest in sleep studies emerging in that era, so a state-of-the-art design effort was justified. What the AI responded with could be classified as “creatively reordered alternative possibility” (CRAP for short).
There you have it – some useful information along with some crap. This exemplifies that now more than ever we need to use critical thinking to evaluate what we read. There is no doubt that the quality of information in responses will increase in time, but the possibility for dangerous misuse is readily apparent. Doctors will surely be able to make faster and better diagnosis of maladies and be informed of available treatment. Impressionable minds may be aroused to violent activity by well-designed propaganda. The two-edged sword exists.
I read in The Denver Post an article on the conundrum faced by professors on student use of AI in their studies. They consider it a waste of time to give essay writing assignments as a simple AI request will deliver the result with no effort on the part of the student. Professors will only give those assignments in real time while students are in class. So pathetic! I will now play college professor and give you my introductory lecture to a new freshman class.
“Welcome to the class on Creative Professional Writing. I am your professor, and I have been paid by you by way of your tuition to teach the techniques that are necessary to become a competent writer. You can think of me as your contractor and you as the customer. Through the conduct of this class and the assignments, you will be confronted not only with a challenge to study and perform, but also presented with an ethical challenge. I am sure you are all aware of the power of ChatGPT and similar online AI programs to produce literary output in response to a request you submit. While this can be a helpful learning tool, it is also a way to complete an assignment with no effort on your part. I am not here to play Dick Tracy to determine which you are using, although I will probably know.
The decision is yours; you can put forth the effort to study, learn, and practice the art of professional quality writing, or you can present the response to an AI request as your own work. In the first case, you will be thought of as learning to be a legitimate, capable professional; in the second case, you will be thought of as a fraud. You paid your money – now make your choice.
With that admonishment, let’s start the first lecture.”
The above is one of many challenges that must be faced as AI intrudes on our lives. Perhaps you have already been an AI victim on your last customer service call. It assumes that it knows your problem and gives you a (sometimes) smug answer. When I first was a customer at my local Wells Fargo bank, there were desks full of customer service agents that I could sit down with to solve problems and get questions answered. Now the desks are empty, and I am directed to make an internet inquiry where I typically end up closing the chat box in disgust because the responses do not really pertain to the question I asked.
On the other hand, I needed to solve a com line software problem on a fuel injection computer, and I got a perfect, detailed response that solved the problem. Like so many other aspects in life, we will have to take the bitter with the sweet. I will take a deep breath and move forward as there is really no other choice. The brave new world is upon us.