Generative AI: The Good, The Bad, and The Unknown
January 21, 2024
Our January meeting was a big success. We partnered with Seattle AWIS (Association of Women in Science) who were great hosts at Fred Hutch. There was a good turnout despite the weather and an even larger audience on Zoom.
Our speaker, Dr. Terry Gray, gave an excellent presentation on Generative AI – The Good the Bad and the Unknown. Artificial Intelligence (AI), is defined by Tech Target as “the simulation of human intelligence by machines”.
We’re already using AI for GPS, personal assistants like Siri and Alexa, e-commerce applications like Netflix and Amazon, and many more. The door is already open. As we speak, Google’s Green Light is working on traffic in Seattle to decrease time spent at red lights.
Generative AI means it can create new content and ideas including conversations, stories, images, videos and music. Think about ChatGPT and see the graphic of Cat in the style of Rothko.
AI is already a significant economic source and predictions are that half of today’s work activities could be automated between 2030 and 2060 (McKinsey). Of course, a lot of new jobs will also be created.
There’s a lot of good news, but significant bad news as well.
Technology is always a two-edged sword. Neither politicians nor techies can change rule #1. There are no technical problems, only people problems.
Some of the bad news involves the prejudice that AI can incorporate into it’s algorithms amplifying our existing bias regarding gender, race, class and culture. Solutions include using diverse and audited datasets, testing and oversight. As you can imagine, this is just the tip of the iceberg when you look at Generative AI in health care, education, elder care, art, music and much more. There’s also the need to know if something was created with AI or by a real person. There’s lots to figure out, but, it’s already here in a big way, and it’s not going to go away.
This is as significant as the PC was to the 1980s, the Web in the 1990s, mobiles in the 2000s and the cloud in the 2010s.
—Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft
There is a recording available for this program.
Related Links:
AI Ethicist’s website listing of AI organizations
Atlas shrugged dancing robots
Dr. Terry Gray’s website