Peter Cochrane: Is technology a magical threat?
new loom is coming
New technologies have always been viewed as a threat to jobs, education, livelihoods, and even life itself. Robots and AI have taken all our jobs these days and will attack us as the ultimate enemy in the near future.
before that 5G radiation that was going to cook our brains It gives us all cancer, not to mention self-driving cars and Chinese surveillance equipment.
This technophobia arguably dates back to slingshots, longbows, looms, and gaslights, electricity, and modern times. It seems to be mainly due to endemic ignorance. Lack of proper and timely education, inadequate rationalization, mistrust of the main character. In our time, this irrationality is amplified by books, movies, media, social networks, fake news, misguided politics, self-interest in competing industries, naysayers and ever-present technophobia. .
Sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic – AC Clark
At the same time, our world is short of talent to fill millions of job openings, and has been since the Industrial Revolution. Demographic change and an aging population are touted as the culprits, but in reality technological advances are the key. As old industries and jobs are destroyed, new industries are born, creating even more new vaccines. The space for solutions is so limited that we need more automation, replacing humans with robots and AI, with the aim of delaying retirement and extending working life.
Generative AI and its ability to produce reports and prose are currently causing some excitement, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Our reliance on robotics and AI is complete. Computer chips are designed by AI, manufactured by robots, and power all our appliances and devices. But AI has long been involved in the design and construction of vehicles, aircraft, ships, oil rigs, refineries and power plants. It is difficult to think of an industry, institution or initiative that does not rely on these technologies.
The future trajectory is clear. AI will become exponentially smarter and more adaptive, while robots will become more agile and dexterous. But we have been here before. From the 1950s to the 1980s, computers were focused on work. They performed his one task (e.g. payroll, banking, gunnery) reasonably efficiently. Today, the scene is dominated by general-purpose computing, while AI and robots remain almost entirely task-specific. And here comes the humans! We are the ultimate general purpose intelligent analog autonomous “machine”.
In other words, AI and robots do not respond well to unexpected and complex exceptions. They enjoy the regular, routine, and expected, and never tire or make mistakes.
On the other hand, we enjoy conversations, and monotonous environments make us bored, tired, lose concentration, and make mistakes. increase. As a result, we need a revolution in education and training, where AI and robots instantly share learnings and experiences across global networks. Therefore, you can leverage these shared feeds as part of your continuously updated educational process.
The only person who likes change is a wet baby – P Cochrane
Perhaps the biggest challenge is getting people used to the idea that change is no longer a quantified process, but a continuum of small digestible, non-disruptive “nudges”.
Also, it would be helpful if people could understand more about what’s behind commands and keyboard buttons.
Peter Cochrane OBE, DSc, University of Hertfordshire
https://www.computing.co.uk/opinion/4074593/peter-cochrane-technology-magic-threat Peter Cochrane: Is technology a magical threat?
