The Hurried Owl on Artificial Intelligence
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I just published a booklet on artificial intelligence (AI) to place that promising new technology in a broader historical and philosophical context. Whilst AI opens pathways to exciting new worlds, it also flirts with disaster and possesses the capacity to destroy jobs, reduce human agency, and usher in the sort of society until now only depicted in dystopian novels and films.
At CFI Press, I have closely monitored the advances of AI, both as a nascent technology and its likely impact on society. I have also found that both makers and users underestimate the power of AI. Most individual end-users experience AI as an add-on that provides convenience and simplifies common tasks. In business, the technology is slowly being leveraged to increase operational efficiency.
Makers solemnly promise that AI will ‘level the playing field’ and act as a great equaliser, empowering those left behind by prior iterations of disruptive technologies. Some AI advocates sketch a future for humanity devoid of want, pain, and suffering.
The volume of hype around artificial intelligence and the improbably happy future the technology is said the bring, drove me to outline the pros and cons – in a succinct manner. I also name the principal drivers of AI and try to discern their motivation. A spoiler: money, not ethics, is in charge.
Please don’t be fooled by repeated assurances that AI is just like any other new technology – say, steam power or the internet – and will cause some initial disruption before society adjusts to it and regains its equilibrium. AI is like nothing that came before. It can, and will, unlock many of life’s mysteries and shatter the limitations of the human body, including its transient nature. It can also extinguish individual freedom, transform us into robots of flesh and blood, and ultimately cause the extinction of humankind.
My booklet on AI is part of the new The Hurried Owl series which aims to thoroughly inform readers on any topic – and do so in under one hour. Hurried Owl booklets run for about 15,000 words which matches the hourly reading speed of most adults.
Readers who are pressed for time or unwilling to tackle large tomes will find in The Hurried Owl series a solid and comprehensive, yet condensed, summary of their chosen topic.
The first volume in The Hurried Owl series was released in September 2024. New booklets will be published monthly. An annual subscription to whole series (12 issues per year) is also available.
Please find further below samples of my recent writing on artificial intelligence below.
About Wim Romeijn
For well over forty years – yes, I’m that old! – I have covered current affairs ranging from municipal to global politics, economics, and social trends – and close to everything in between. My writing has appeared in major print publications in Brazil, Canada, Chile, the Netherlands, the UK, and the US.
In my next life, I hope to reincarnate as a philosopher. However, being made out of stardust like everything else, I’m not so sure that wish will come true.
Concentrating on the here and now, I dedicate most of my time to long-form reporting – ‘slow journalism’ – and writing. Though I am enchanted by technology, and was an early adopter in several of them, at heart I remain a rather hopeless luddite, cultivating an imho healthy suspicion of promises and grandiloquence by tech people. Remember the ‘paperless office’ that somehow never materialised?
Long before the advent of the digital camera, I was hauling a Nikon Coolscan all over Latin America to digitise film shot with my Canon A1 camera. I’d develop the film in my hotel room which involved fumbling inside a black bag to open the film canister and winding the exposed film onto a reel.
The next step was to seal that reel into a cylinder into which a chemical solution, prepared on the spot from, was poured to develop the film. The end result was a negative or positive that the Coolscan would digitise into a file. Using dial-up cups over the receiver of a bulky rotary phone, I could actually sent my photo’s to the news desk in Amsterdam to the amazement of the editors.
Though not a technophobe, I do confess to suffering pangs of nostalgia: I play vinyl records, record onto bulky reel-to-reel tapes, and read printed books made from dead trees and ink. As a yachtsman in earlier times, I insisted on ditching the GPS for celestial navigation, using a sextant, chronometer, and almanac. I actually instructed cadets of the Chilean navy in the art of navigation by heavenly bodies.
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How Silicon Valley Strikes Out, Dumps VC Funds, and Woos You
The job of venture capital (VC) fund managers involves making out with lots of frogs in the expectation that at least one of them turns into a prince. VC funds have enjoyed a great ride with a powerful business model…
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The Sense and Nonsense of the Luddites
Luddites thrive on nostalgia and a fear of technological progress. However, before dismissing them as sentimental fools, it would be wise to consider a few of their more reasoned arguments, especially in light of the advent of artificial intelligence. To…
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Finding, Dissecting, and Dealing with AI Hallucinations
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is taking over the internet with untold millions of webpages generated by bots at the request of entrepreneurs looking to ‘get money for nothing’ – if only because the ‘chicks’ are not usually ‘free’ for nerds. It…
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AI Gunning for the Corner Office
MBA graduates are usually highly valued for their ability to analyse and comprehend a vast universe of business scenarios, discern trends, trace the shortest route to success, unearth synergies, and/or map under-explored areas ready for exploitation. However, there is quite…
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Artificial Intelligence: Enough with the Hype Already
There is nothing intelligent about artificial intelligence. The clue is in the name: artificial. At best, AI mimics intelligence. And such, it fools the more simple minded into believing that AI is a brainiac whereas, in reality, AI is merely…
