Playing with artificial intelligence: odd-man-out?

Playing with artificial intelligence: odd-man-out?

This thought did not leave my head during the entire meeting of the Skills Lab Network of Experts, which, with the support of the European Training Foundation and Fondazione Brodolini, gathered in Turin on October 9-10 this year.

The topic of the meeting and, accordingly, the basis for expert discussion was Artificial Intelligence (AI), possibilities and areas of AI’s use in various types of economic and social life.

From the introductory lecture of the famous AI researcher Mrs. Maha Gmira, it became known that starting from the post-war period, AI and research around it developed quite briskly, and currently one of the "mass" examples of AI is the famous ChatGPT, which is "played" with today, sometimes frivolously , average users.

The examples that were intended to demonstrate various areas of AI application (I was lucky enough to visit the well-known company ItalDesign, which took part and participates in almost all high-profile premieres of the world automotive industry in the last half century), to be honest, were not unequivocally convincing. Perhaps there was a lack of attention from my side, but beyond 3-D modelling and the actual replacement of research laboratory specialists, who before AI made prototypes and working models of the company's products by hand, I did not see the convincing results of the introduction of AI.

A few words about replacement.

Yes, we are moving rapidly through the automation, digitalization and computerization of many industrial (and not only) processes. Miners, assembly plant workers, drivers, postmen and many other professions may sink into oblivion in the nearest future. But not only blue-collar professions will be affected by the widespread introduction of AI. Next up are referees of sports competitions, lawyers (at least junior legal and notary staff), doctors (first, diagnosticians) and many other professions, to master which humans need years of education, personal and professional improvement. And how long (seconds, maybe?) will AI need to reach the level of excellence?

An interesting discussion took place regarding teachers. The European Training Foundation, which traditionally takes care of a wide range of important issues of the development of vocational education, cannot stand aside from the problem of the possibility of replacing AI teachers. And there is a risk, although not significant. Yet. I hope the scenes of acquiring practical skills shown in the films of the “Matrix” trilogy and the famous phrase of the main character: "I know kung-fu" after directly downloading the appropriate knowledge and skills into his brains come to mind. Of course, this is a movie, but what is the role of a teacher in such a scenario?

Another aspect of the meeting, which was actually took the entire second day, was related to the search for an answer to the question: how and with the help of what (what skills and knowledge) will we have to communicate with AI in the near future?

Think about the question - we (people, authors, inventors, and creators of Artificial Intelligence). Not to artificial intelligence with us (to be honest, I cannot dare to give this phenomenon a pronoun...), but to us.

I don't think that this question was deliberately asked. But here the collective subconscious is clearly manifested.

It remains to ask, from my point of view, the key question - for what?

Why create a phenomenon, giving this phenomenon opportunities for independent development and own decision-making? Do we, humanity, want to feel like the Creator? Won't we just become the third redundant in the system of simple and logical relations of the Artificial Intelligence with the surrounding world in which there is so much to explore and learn about?

After all, any intelligence is, first of all, a system that knows how to constantly learn, accumulate knowledge and apply it, it is a system armed with the apparatus of abstract thinking, which can question one of the laws of robotics, formulated almost half a century ago by Isaac Asimov - a robot does not have harm a person!

What knowledge and skills will we need for such a scenario?

The group in which I participated did not consider such a scenario, we were generally more positive, but let's face it, a negative scenario is also possible. And then, I'm afraid, we will need knowledge far from computer modelling and distance learning with the help of intelligent systems.

Probably, I thicken the colours and dramatize too much. I believe in the mind and intelligence (not artificial) of Humanity, who knows exactly the limits of the automation and digitalization development, which should not harm the general vector of the human civilization genesis. As my colleague from Kyrgyzstan, Bakyt Omurzakov, pointed out, “humanity and artificial intelligence will have to achieve a balance of social cohesion and emotional intelligence!”