1eclecticwriter

I took a survey on Quartz about my interactions with artificial intelligence – questions about my familiarity with its current role in various fields as well as what I would or would not want it to be doing for me in five years. The process made me both aware of how many ways AI is already affecting my life, and the ways that I very strongly object to it doing so. At the most simplistic level, I have always turned off “auto correct” in my word processing software – my knowledge of correct grammar is better than that of any language correction program I have yet encountered. I don’t mind suggestions, I abhor being summarily overruled.

All the supposedly-tailored-to-my-interests advertising and “read this” article suggestions that pop up when I’m using a search engine make it clear how pervasive AI already is; also making it clear how inadequate it is in matching my interests. Because you see, when I’m searching for something i’m only interested in that single item. All the suggestions are irritating distractions. If AI were in fact intelligent it would know I hate and ignore them.

Recently I was given a loaner car while mine had serious undercarriage repairs. The new VW provided to me as an enticement to consider an upgrade/purchase came equipped with lots of gadgets not offered when I bought my custom-ordered Golf TDI in 2004. The various improvements on seat adjustment were nice. The polite requests that I turn on trip director and let the GPS system tell me where to turn felt almost insulting. I mean please, if I need to be told how to drive from my motel to my workplace, I shouldn’t be behind the wheel at all! Perhaps I could learn to adjust to using the screen that comes on when the car is put into reverse, but the perspective was disorienting and I looked over my shoulder to back into a parking space, as I have all my life.

It’s already apparent, when there’s a power failure at the checkout counter, that business grinds to a halt, and not just because the under 30’s cashiers can’t do simple arithmetic to make change. Inventory control, all sorts of other functions are now tied to the computers inside the cash registers and without power they don’t work. Annoying when standing in a store, unable to complete my shopping. Impossible when it’s a matter of getting where I need to go.

I really don’t see the point of a device meant to move me from one place to another being designed to be totally dependent on a computer (artificial intelligence) and thereby unable to do its primary job whenever there’s a ‘glitch’ in that device. The cars (and pickups) I grew up with could be wired together, adjusted and kept running by a reasonably intelligent layman. Those vehicles kept doing their primary job year after year after year. The new vehicles being presented as superior require a whole garage of high tech equipment just to diagnose what’s not working right. That doesn’t seem to me to be particularly intelligent.

I like and appreciate computers – in their proper place. They are good at supporting communication, quickly organizing or sorting data, making huge libraries of information readily available, enabling me to have face to face visits with friends and family around the world. I suppose the AI personal assistants can be considered to be highly skilled data organizers, keeping track of appointments, reminding of laundry that is ready for pickup, providing lists of nearby restaurants that meet the … hmm, owner? master? boss? human’s preferences,

We’re already told we use only a small portion of our brains. Why are we being moved toward using ever less of them? Shouldn’t we be expanding our own mental capacities rather than giving our already limited thinking capacity over to an artificial brain?

Makes no sense to me, unless maybe that artificial brain can quickly teach me to understand how Chrome works. My brain has been so programmed by Microsoft, that it fights adapting to Chrome. I know there’s no delete key, for example, but my hand keeps reaching for one anyway. Come on, unused brain cells, kick in and take over and learn this new system. Isn’t that what you were created for? To be used?

Tags: artificial intelligence, Chrome, communication, Google

This entry was posted on July 8, 2017 at 7:48 pm and is filed under Living and Learning, technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.