Outsmarting AI. Brennan Pursell
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the limitations and potential shortcomings of the technology itself. AI is not a panacea; it is yet another human-engineered tool to aid us in conducting (previously) human tasks at much greater speed, scale, and accuracy.
In parting, let me offer what I believe will—and will not—change in the marketplace of the future. For starters, businesses that embrace AI will far outpace their competitors. There will be “haves” and “have-nots,” and the disparity between the performances of those two genres will become acute and pervasive. Enterprises that learn to leverage data and employ AI algorithms effectively will have a comparative advantage because they will operate more efficiently and be able to perform functions that surpass human sensory and computational capabilities. An unfortunate corollary of the fact that all data are not created equally, however, is that large organizations with myriad data will have an inherent advantage over smaller competitors. Consequently, my advice would be to purchase access to AI algorithms trained on those larger data sets.
Next, AI—in conjunction with robotics—will displace workers in multiple roles, including some professional and managerial jobs. But, these new applications will themselves require human facilitators and programmers to calibrate their activities. Once again, the issue will be how successfully an organization manages the inevitable change to its own advantage.
Finally, certain elements of corporate competition and responsibility will remain. The transition to an AI economy will see many established companies flounder, and many new enterprises supplant them. But the age of the truly intelligent machines is still a matter for science fiction. Human beings will continue to matter, and companies that respect the human dignity of both their employees and their customers will increasingly see that reflected in their profits.
Sean Kanuck is chair of the Research Advisory Group for the Global Commission on the Stability of Cyberspace. He teaches a graduate seminar on the security implications of artificial intelligence at George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs.
Acknowledgments
Brennan:
My hearty thanks go to
Joshua Walker for urging me in this direction years ago, for stimulating discussions and never a dull moment throughout our work together
Rowman & Littlefield’s editorial staff: commissioning editor Suzanne Staszak-Silva, production editors Brianna Westervelt and Hannah Fisher, copy editor Melissa Hayes, cover designer Amanda Wilson, and editorial assistant Charlotte Gosnell for their tireless, patient work in bringing this volume to fruition
Literary agent, Jeff Herman, for his wise advice and support
Fr. Jim Greenfield, DeSales University President, Br. Dan Wisniewski, Provost, and other faculty and staff for making possible the invaluable sabbatical leave time to complete and promote the work
Michele Mrazik, research librarian at DeSales University Trexler library, and her student research assistants for speedy and thorough support
Sean Kanuck and Joshua Schulz for devoting their precious time to writing the Foreword and Afterword
Andrew Ng, a consummate teacher in every way
Robbie Kellman Baxter, author of The Membership Economy and The Forever Transaction, for her careful and critical read of the manuscript
Family, friends, and kind people whom I have not had the pleasure to meet, who took the time to read the text in whole or in part and provide their comments and/or endorsements
Last and certainly not least to my beloved wife and three children for tolerating yet another book project
Joshua:
First, I would like to thank friends and family for putting up with a new literary adventure; I hope your sacrifice does some good, and your goodness ever appreciated
Many of the folks in Brennan’s “thank yous” I thank again, for emphasis, including: Rowman & Littlefield (Suzanne!, Brianna!, Hannah!, Melissa!, Amanda!, Charlotte!), individually and as a whole, we appreciate you very much; Jeff Herman, agent extraordinaire, who made a bet on us and persevered through all weathers, to clear skies; Sean and crew for friendship, sage advice, and great contributions to both this book and the safety of the planet
Bob G., GKFM, and so many mentors and leaders along the way; we could never have created Lex Machina, or inspired so many, without the AI craft of Chris Manning and Andrew Ng (mayhap the two best Natural Language Processing and Machine Learning folks, respectively, anywhere, on this planet and on the other ones: respect)
And the last is the first in many ways (just as those “left behind” or out of the AI revolution need to be placed back in the driver’s seat): Thank you to Brennan, who took on this project—with passion, chutzpah, and scholarly precision. Life is a blank page. Let’s be worthy of it
Introduction
AI on Earth
Some prominent people in high tech say that artificial intelligence (AI) will take over the world. Computers will calculate that humanity is the real problem on earth and will start World War III to wipe us out. You can’t make it up, even if Hollywood already has—repeatedly. These predictions are garbage. Pay no attention to them.
This is fear mongering. Fear doesn’t make you smarter about technology; it makes people irrational, erratic, and prone to extreme behavior. Fear leads to bad decisions.
Equally, stop listening to so-called “futurists” who claim that AI will eventually merge with and exceed human intelligence, achieve “superintelligence”—like Iron Man and his omniscient bot, Jarvis—and attain “singularity.” When this happens, technological advances will alter the fundamentals of nature and economics as we know them, everything will be automated, human misery will end, and people will enjoy a one-thousand-year life span. Again, you can’t make it up. Utopias all turn out to be failures or frauds, sooner or later.
Recent AI hype may sound like the noise of a classic market bubble, like tulips in the Netherlands in the 1600s, or the South Sea Company and Mississippi meltdown in the 1700s, all the way up to dotcoms and “the new economy” in the 1990s, subprime mortgages until the crisis of 2008, and those cryptocurrencies that Warren Buffett called “rat poison.”
But there’s more to AI than that.
AI is real. It is a set of computer tools that can help you to make money in the good old-fashioned way: increase sales, streamline your operations, and reduce your overhead costs. If you are in government services, it can enhance your work and lower your expenses.
You can use it if you are a farmer, a dry cleaner, a banker, a teacher, a sport coach, a doctor, a lawyer, and just about any profession you can think of. We do mean “any.” Including the oldest, believe or not. It’s hard to inhibit some entrepreneurs.
Joshua and I are going to tell you in plain terms what AI is, what it can do and what it can’t, how you can and should use it for the benefit of your organization, whether a business, nonprofit, government entity, or NGO.
The race is on. There is a global contest to see which economy gets the most out of the best set of AI applications.
Don’t hold back. We all have to wise up, do the work, and use these tools correctly and responsibly, for our profit and protection, before others take advantage of our ignorance.
AI Is Brainless
You have to be smarter than all AI systems because they are really dumb.
AI—“artificial intelligence”—quite frankly, is neither. There is nothing artificial or bogus about computers doing calculations, and the way they work has almost no similarity to the human brain and intelligence.