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Not Sure How I Feel About Artificial Intelligence

December 4th, 2023 by Kenneth Abrahams

Recently, I paid for a webinar on artificial intelligence. It was promoted as a CEO or other C-Suite executives basic guide to AI. Everything that I read, or have read, on AI says that if you don’t jump in now and at least begin to start understanding the artificial intelligence wave, you will be left behind. For those that are familiar with Clifton Strengths, learner is one of my top strengths so when you combine the threat of being left behind and the natural desire to learn new things this seemed like the perfect opportunity for me to explore this blossoming technology. Unfortunately, the day of the webinar I had a conflict and was unable to attend the live session, but I was able to access full recordings of the 3 presentations that were given. 

After watching the first 2 webinars I was ready to ask for a refund. These were not webinars for a small company or one unfamiliar with AI. Both of the first 2 presentations were clearly aimed at large corporations with full, highly skilled IT departments. That is not what FUN Enterprises is. They spent a lot of time talking about protecting your data and organizing said data so that implementation was smooth and seamless. This is not what I was expecting. What I wanted were sessions that treated me like I was an idiot when it came to the world of AI.

After investing over 2 hours, I was ready to call it quits and write to the company asking for at the very least a partial refund. For some reason I stuck with it and went to video number 3. I’m glad that I did, it was what I both wanted and needed. They said that we should embrace this technology but that we should also be fearful of it. In the presentation, they mentioned that it was simply the most powerful business tool out there but that it was in its infancy and there were potential issues both logistically and ethically. Their advice was to approach with curiosity and caution. They ran through a great demonstration and said the best way to learn how to use it is to simply get in there and f#$& around with it.

After the webinar, I spent some time in Chat GPT and have used it to assist in writing emails and newsletter articles. In the future, we will also use it to help us with some of our promotional pieces. Some of the best advice given was how to provide the system with good, robust prompts. When interfacing, at least with Chat GPT, the more information that is put in the better the results. When putting in prompts, the more detailed the description of what you are looking for the better. You can tell it whether you want things more factual and in a very narrow scope or give it more license to be creative. Try writing a job description using the voice of a seasoned HR professional and then have it write the same job description as if it were being written by Snoop Dogg. Compare the two pieces it will be both interesting and entertaining. 

AI is not new technology. For years, devices with computers or processors have been learning our habits. Now, when you text from your phone it is suggesting words to finish the sentence you are typing. Computers gather data on shopping habits, likes and dislikes, and make recommendations on products you may like. Use a GPS like Waze? Did you ever notice that it seems to calculate how fast you drive and not the speed limit to determine what your possible arrival time will be. Creepy but true.

I am neither a technophile nor am I tech phobic, but this new, or at least rapidly expanding, technology does excite me. The fact that these systems learn at a rapid rate and take in an enormous amount of consistently provided data every day, does scare me more than a bit. Those folks that developed social media platforms like Facebook often won’t let their kids have accounts because of the danger of the platforms that they created. When it comes to technology, we often go with the ready, fire, aim mentality of developing the technology without really looking at the moral and ethical implications of the creations.

While watching the 3rd webinar in the series that I purchased, it was interesting how the presenter interacted or approached the system. He was very polite asking for its help all the while using please and thank you as Chat GPT did his bidding. When a participant questioned the approach, he responded that he had no idea where this technology was going or how powerful it was and best to be polite and air on the side of caution.

Despite being 63 years old, I enjoy technology and truly believe that it can make our lives better. That being said, I have watched computers go from big bulky machines that took up huge amounts of space to machines so small and so light that they slide easily into a backpack. Processors that have become so fast the calculations seem instantaneous. They now can recognize faces, voices, and even fingerprints. All that scares me a bit.

With any new technology there are ethical questions being raised with AI. High Schools, Colleges, corporations and even magazines like Sports Illustrated are dealing with the challenges that AI creates. Do academic institutions try to ferret out students that use AI to write papers or do research? How do corporations protect themselves from people portraying work as their own when it is created or done with the assistance of AI? Should organizations that use AI to help write white papers, newsletters, articles, and emails credit the source, CHAT GPT and others in the publication? Sports Illustrated recently got into hot water because several of their “writers” appear to be created by AI. Not only the articles but the photos all appear to be computer generated. When they get caught or questioned, said writer and all of their work seems to disappear. Some high schools and colleges are not going to try and discover if students are using AI to complete assignments believing it is an almost impossible task. If you have ever used AI often, to get a good piece takes some very robust prompts and multiple “rewrites”. There is a school of thought out there which believes that you still need to put a fair amount of work into the process to get good results.

As the saying goes, now that we let the Genie out of the bottle, and we can’t put it back. This technology is going to continue to develop at lightning speed and it isn’t going to stop. Humans have an incurable thirst for knowledge, along with profits, and AI has an almost limitless potential for both. As for me, I will continue to use it, as a matter of fact over the next few weeks one of my blog pieces will be written by AI. Have fun trying to figure out which one it is. Yes, I will continue to use it but continue to be hesitant about what it can do and how much it is learning about all of us and our habits.

About the author:

Ken Abrahams first exposure to computers was in high school. Computers in those days were large machines that used a paper tape to store data on. Most popular was a horse racing program that someone created that allowed you to bet fake money on fake races. It was fun, until you lost your bankroll then you needed to reload the game and start all over again. FUN Enterprises would be a very different business without Microsoft Office, Photoshop, emails and many other technological advances but that doesn’t mean Ken isn’t afraid about the dark side of this technology.

To find out more about the company go to our website www.funent.com you can also go to this link to sign up for our newsletter which comes out about 6 times a year    https://funent.com/subscribe-to-the-funny-pages/.  Our newsletter will tell you more about the company and the products and services we offer as well as some games, things to do, and the occasional cooking tip.