Absolute AI: The Evolution of the Human Experience Through Artificial Intelligence

JORDAN

Copyright © 2019 Susan Rebner and Todd Rebner.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted by any means—whether auditory, graphic, mechanical, or electronic—without written permission of the author, except in the case of brief excerpts used in critical articles and reviews. Unauthorized reproduction of any part of this work is illegal and is punishable by law.

ISBN: 978-1-6847-1098-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6847-1099-7 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-6847-1097-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019915006

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Lulu Publishing Services rev. date: 10/11/2019

Introduction

What if machines could figure out, in terms of policies and business and society,

[…] the well-being of people […] Maybe it would be possible to set policies, to contribute to charities, and to build businesses that [were] able to track the improvements in well-being,

or decreases in suffering—maybe that would be the pinnacle application of AI.

~Daniel Faggella

Faster than You Think

The basic definition of intelligence is the ability to accomplish complex goals; the more complex the goals achieved, the more sophisticated the cognitive abilities. It would make sense to be intimidated by the prospect of machines gaining intelligence that not only matches but far exceeds our own; yet this is where we find ourselves today: on the brink of another epoch in human history, a time of significant change and challenge. And it will arrive faster than any of us realize. Many claim it is already here.

For individuals as well as organizations, the challenge is: how do we best meet the demands of an ever-changing social and technological landscape? How do we remedy and overcome possible adverse effects of this rapid change? Moreover, beyond merely mitigating those negatives, how do we forecast that change and get ahead of it to best direct it for the good of everyone going forward: consumer, student, researcher, governmental official, investor, and business leader alike?

It is true that along with every technological advancement in history, there have been those who were perhaps rightly concerned about their continued development and employment. Innovations such as printing, various modes of locomotion, energy, and communications changed not only the way we lived in the past but also changed the speed at which we accomplished further innovation—as well as how we think.

The past century has seen the highest rate of acceleration in history in all of the interconnected spheres of population, society, culture, technology, science, communication, and travel. Even in the relatively early days of computing, experts were warning that people may not be able to adapt to that rapid change. In 1970, Alvin Toffler described this in his seminal book, Future Shock: I coined the term, ‘future shock’ to describe the shattering stress and disorientation that we induce in individuals by subjecting them to too much change in too short a time (2). He is one of many that now are giving increasing voice to concerns about the most recent technological revolution that will impact the world in ways no one can fully predict: Artificial Intelligence. What we do right now as governmental and organizational leaders will determine the very future itself, and the quality of life, for all life on the planet. That is a weighty responsibility.

However, the good news is that if we learn as much as we can about this ever-growing set of interrelated technologies we collectively call AI, we may all help build a future that is both sustainable and profitable beyond our dreams. To accomplish this, we need to bring together leadership teams from various fields to help us mindfully grow, develop, and integrate these technologies in the most ethical, secure, and transparent ways possible.

Collective Intelligence: Our Best Chance

As a media-savvy citizen, you too, have probably heard the recent dire warnings from such figures as Steven Hawking and Elon Musk regarding the possible dangers of AI we must prepare for in the coming decades. Of course, no wise person would blanketly dismiss such experts in their fields—but there are other perspectives than that of James Barrat who claims that Artificial Intelligence will be Our Final Invention, as the title of his book famously warns. Yes, the researchers and leaders he spoke with have a variety of visions of the future, some of which are dire and should be considered. However, others propose a different view, one that builds upon a recognition that it is impossible to slow down the evolution of these technologies of Machine and Deep Learning, Robotics, Nanotechnology, Genomics, all drawing upon every other science, including Quantum Mechanics, Engineering, and even Astrophysics. Many cite the oft-used phrase that the genie is out of the bottle—the best we can do, what we must do, is ensure that everyone in society has a say in how these processes come into our world.

There is no stopping the revolution of advanced computing, the Internet of Things (all those smart devices connected to the web), autonomous vehicles, or industrial innovation. Nor should we try to stop it. What we need is a strategy developed in collaboration with the best minds in science, technology, education, government, security, and yes, even culture and the arts, in order to be able to add our collective voice to decisions of how the technology gets developed, for what purposes, and who will regulate it. If there is no stopping it, then we must humanize it—starting now, as we create it, and as each layer builds upon previous layers of infrastructure, code, and governance, we must act to infuse AI with the imperatives we collectively agree are in everyone’s best interest. Deciding what that interest is will be a series of endless debates, but waiting until after these young intelligences reach maturity, or surpass our own, would be a much greater mistake.

As a leader in your own field, consider how you will contribute your voice to the conversation to help not only your organization succeed in the coming years, but how helping your organization do so will help humanity as a whole flourish. Each company, agency, educational institution, brick and mortar retail store, financial giant: workers in every sector of our entire economy need to be educated, trained, and helped to envision their role in creating a future in which we are collectively responsible for shaping the best landscape for human flourishing. Consider what your role will be.

AI is Here, For Good

AI is here today; it’s not just the future of technology. It’s embedded in the fabric of your everyday life.

~Neil Jacobstein, Singularity University Chair, AI & Robotics

In his book, Abundance: The Future is Better Than You Think, Peter Diamandis explains his reasoning for co-founding Singularity University, an organization that started as a conference in 2008, and has since become a large collaborative project of the world’s top researchers and experts in all related fields of AI. The mission of the University is:

Preparing global leaders and organizations for the future: Explore the opportunities and implications of exponential technologies and connect to a global ecosystem that is shaping the future and solving the world’s most urgent problems. (su.org)

It is just that kind of vision that is required of every industry and organization now. Whether we sell cell phones or comic books, write code or build houses, we must consider how we are contributing to further technological innovation as well as how we are using the technologies already created.

New companies may be formed by visionary leaders who understand the fundamentals of Artificial Intelligence already developed and how best to push those technologies further to create unique and dynamic solutions to more significant problems facing humanity. The crucial point is that in the hands of the right organizational leader, AI will be seen as the most powerful tool humanity has ever created to solve the world’s most significant problems, not create them. Business leaders, researchers, and government officials need to collaborate and work together, utilizing AI’s computational abilities to look for solutions that are currently invisible to us.

One of the great achievements of AI is its growing ability in pattern recognition and prediction. As this ability gets ever more precise, sifting through vast amounts of data that would be impossible for humans, it may be able to offer ways of approaching poverty, climate change, worldwide water shortages, not to mention help solve a faulty distribution system for a particular industry. That is the beauty of AI, it can and will help solve any problem given it, larger or smaller in scale. Of course, there will always be the need for human input in the equation, as well as human oversight of every process.

However, while AI experts, political leaders, and academics assist us all in developing parameters for how AI should be developed and used, business leaders should consider their roles as equally important, as they are the ones who will drive innovation even faster. Consider the Internet of Things, a loose term referring to all our devices, phones, computers, even cars, appliances, and home assistants, that are connected to the Internet, usually through WiFi or the cloud, continually feeding data back to manufacturers and websites that help provide services through those devices. If your business is in any way related to that sector, you will want to be on the cutting edge of what latest technology is available that could be integrated to make your product more appealing and marketable. You will invest in even further innovation and development of faster computing, smoother user interaction with your applications, more appealing website designs, and the like.

Artificial Intelligence and statistical experts, Nick Polson and James Scott write in their book, AIQ: How People and Machines are Smarter Together, that innovation is the bedrock, reminding us of once well-known companies like Kodak and Blockbuster which have been replaced by newer, faster technology-driven brands. Whatever nostalgia we might legitimately have for such companies, it has always been the way of the world that change happens—as we have seen, ever-increasingly rapidly. What must be part of the new ethos is that adaptability and flexibility, those two nimble feet of the young, must be taught to those who prefer more fixed worldviews. Polson and Scott continue: "We take a practical outlook on the emergence of AI: it is here today, and more of it is coming tomorrow, whether any of us like it or not. These technologies will bring immense benefits, but they will also, inevitably, reflect our weak spots as a civilization. As a result, there will be dangers to watch out for […]. We must meet these dangers with smart policy" (10).

Industry has always been the engine that drives innovation. However, business leaders now need to think in even more multi-layered ways than they did before. CEOs and other leaders at every level of an organization, large or small, should consider not only educating themselves but most of their workforce in things relating to AI and how it will change their operations going forward. Yes, as the news reports, there will be substantial changes in every sector of our global economy. However, those changes need not be the cataclysmic results of AI run amok so often predicted in the media; instead, those changes can and should be positive: the result of thoughtful planning by industry leaders and governmental oversight. This could provide exciting changes for workers at every level, with education and training that could potentially create more jobs in every sector. It all begins with leadership: those who are willing to form teams of experts, immersing themselves in all the processes of AI implementation and security to ensure organizational stability and success for their workers and clients. As Lex Fridman of MIT put it, what we need is to find the balance between paralyzing technophobia and blindness to big-picture consequences (Lecture, MIT Conference, YouTube).

How to Make it Happen

What this book lays out for you is just the beginning, but it is a crucial beginning. Chapter 1 What is Artificial Intelligence and Why Now? assumes nothing in terms of your knowledge of AI, though it would also be a useful review for those who have a working understanding. It outlines our current social and historical moment, defining some key concepts and parameters. Chapter 2 What is Machine Learning and What are its Applications? goes deeper into the foundational principles of how what we currently call AI got started decades ago with basic computer science and mathematical algorithms. Chapter 3 What is Big Data and How is it Used? discusses the key mechanism which has fueled accelerating processing and learning: data. Only in the past few years with the hyper-connectivity of the Internet have organizations been able to collect, store, and now analyze the vast amounts of data necessary for even deeper AI technologies to emerge. Deep learning, pattern recognition in images, voice, and language processes are helping to create an explosion of innovation at increasingly rapid paces. Cybersecurity concerns are the focus of Chapter 4 Mechanized Warfare: Cyber and Information Security. Here we cover in detail all the possible threats to any organization, and offer steps to mitigate risk and damage should there be breaches. Chapter 5 Artificial Intelligence in Use Today describes the many ways in which AI has become so ubiquitous that we may not even recognize it even when we are interacting with it.

Building upon Chapter 5, we discuss How Will Artificial Intelligence be Used Tomorrow? in Chapter 6. Here we forecast just a few of the sectors that will have some of the most significant and exciting changes. Chapter 7 The Singularity: What is Artificial General Intelligence? When Will it be Achieved? is a more philosophical, as well as practical, exploration of some of the greatest futurists, scientists, and leaders in the field and their predictions as to what AGI (human-level machine intelligence) will look like and when they believe it will happen. Chapter 8 What Can and Should be Done? Ethics in a Time of Great Change allows for thoughtful consideration of how to best lay the foundations for ethical AI employment now, for the greater good.

In our conclusion, we offer our final considerations for what we envision is the best outcome of all these enormously complex technological systems and processes. In the end, they are human processes, like AI, like every tool, is but an extension of us. We must soberly, but with enthusiasm, command that tool to shape the world for future generations. Ultimately, whether it’s art, science, or business, everything humanity invents reflects our striving to answer the questions of what it means to be human and how best to achieve optimal conditions to thrive. At the very least, meeting the challenge of how to shape a future infused with AI will answer this question