AI…. two letters that, if we believe what is being pushed at us from every direction will come to dominate our lives in the future. For good….. As a threat….. Or maybe both. Nigel Toon, one of Britain’s top entrepreneurs and founder of leading AI microprocessor company Graphcore – gives an answer of a resounding ‘No’ and he explained to a Marlborough Litfest audience in a sold-out St Mary’s Church Hall ‘why’.
AI – Artificial Intelligence – isn’t just about to unleash ‘Terminator’ upon us, or certainly not yet a while, if ever. Nigel made clear that regarding the evolutionary position of AI – Artificial Intelligence – we are just in the foothills, there is far to go, yet. Humans – us – are amazing machines. We possess intelligence, much of which we probably don’t realise we possess, as he explained it’s our sub-conscious that is the most powerful aspect of our brain, and using the professional v. amateur sports person analogy whilst a competent amateur tennis player may be able to react as fast as Roger Federer, it’s what comes next that is the difference. Federer will factor in the context to create the intelligence. He will be able to interpret the scene (data) better than the amateur and deliver a focused outcome. As an outcome, what he will do will be in an altogether different league to what the gifted amateur could manage. Probably a winning point…..
Context is critical. Data in isolation is worthless, it’s the context that creates the direction, use and application of data to put it towards solving problems.
Will AI replace humans? In Nigel’s view – no. There are some tasks that might almost deliver a replacement, but essentially it’s about AI enabling humans to improve their output. Probably in quantity and quality. Enabling us homo sapiens to do what we do, but better.
Even education. Tomorrow AI will create the opportunity for tailored tutoring online. Today education is still about the ‘3 Rs’ (reading, (w)riting, (a)rithmetic – or something like that) whereas tomorrow in Nigel’s view it will be the ‘3 Cs’ – Curiosity; Creativity; Critical thinking.
AI will enable us all to create apps for the computer, the ‘interface’ between us and the system will create what we need and want, by interpreting our commands and needs without the resorting of us to create lines of code. AI development and use – for good, for bad is ultimately going to be driven by us. Also, at present it’s the microchips, the bits of silicon + other stuff that are going to be the drag on development. The rate of growth is slower than the potential software side of AI, for now.
So a long way to go. AI is still in it’s infancy, the human brain is still infinitesimally more efficient ‘computer’, using a miniscule amount of energy when compared to a machine, and with hundreds of billions of processes happening, even while you are reading this. You will be thinking about it’s application, it’s relevance, or even about the cup of tea in a few minutes. AI can’t deliver that, yet.
AI is here, the genie is out of the bottle but understanding it is how to use it, and to our (collective) benefit. ‘How AI Thinks’ is a clear and reasoned guide to that process, as we currently are in the mid 2020s.
Kate Mosse at Marlborough LitFest
