AI and Reality

(this page can be reached via: https://is.gd/AIandReality )

AI “will alter our experience as reasoning beings and
permanently change our relationship with reality.”

(Kissinger/Schmidt/Huttenlocher; The Age of AI and our Human Future; 2022 

Since fall of 2022 with the first emergence of OpenAI's DALI-e and ChatGPT the "threat" of AI has moved from sci-fi to an active discussion in popular media, policy forums and even a topic of serious concern among technical experts.  The spring letter(s) from multiple AI researchers and resignation of one of Google's leading AI experts are indications of this.  A useful "talking head" documentary is "The A.I. Dilemma" (by the folks that brought you The Social Dilemma)

I've played a bit with DALI-e, Microsoft's variant of ChatGPT, Google's BARD, Google's augmented search, Claude2 ("constitutional AI"), Sudowrite (to create books, lyrics),  VoiceMod ("sings" to canned audio tracks), with interesting results. I've posted a few of these (democracy, peer review), and also OpEd or two to our local paper. Below is a recent snapshot of a PPT presentation I'm developing to facilitate discussion of these topics in this very rapidly changing environment.
(a related list of resources can be found <here>.)

There are a few threats I suggest are very real, and they don't include a Skynet Terminator appearing from the future, or even HAL (2001) taking over the ship (or planet). 

If you are concerned about students/kids/etc. using chatbots to create fake essays, etc. Here is a suggestion: (1) give them an assignment to have a chatbot create an essay. (2) Then use "strike though" to indicate the misleading/incorrect parts, (3)  use "highlight" to indicate additions made by the student and (4) have them end the assignment with a paragraph or two of their own describing their experience.  


Resource list:

https://sites.google.com/site/jimisaak/Home/stem-4-all/ai---social-media-resources

Chatbot Comparisions

Sept 2023: Forbes AI Showdown part 1

AltReality_AI.pptx