In this podcast episode, our host, Michele Marius, is alone – no guests – and sharing her thoughts on a recent article published in the New York Times in which the writer allowed AI to make all of her decisions for a week. The article sent Michele down a rabbit hole (of sorts) and had her ponder whether, in the context of AI, we could have too much of a good thing.
This episode is also available on SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music!!
Generative artificial intelligence (AI) is evolving rapidly, with its capabilities expanding beyond content creation (which was so 2022!) and reaching into decision-making processes. Further, as its capabilities have increased, many of us, especially in the workplace, are excited by the help AI can provide to make us more efficient, effective and able to access resources or expertise that might otherwise not be readily available.
However, if we extend AI use in our personal lives and, more importantly, rely on it when making decisions, would that make us more efficient, effective and overall better than we would have been?
Thankfully, we have an intrepid explorer, Kashmir Hill, who wrote about that very topic in The New York Times, in which she allowed Generative AI to make all of her decisions for a week!
In addition to sharing some of her experiences with AI during that week, the writer included insights and feedback from many experts, which often offered a sage perspective on the interactions she had had.
However, in trying to keep on with what is happening not only in the Caribbean tech space but also in tech generally, it should come as no surprise that as enlightening as the article was, it also led me to additional questions and considerations.
So, in this podcast episode, it is just me and the mic. I share some of my thoughts on The New York Times article, which of course, includes a brief discourse on the pros and cons of AI. However, it also has me making other connections and asking more questions, which I thought I’d share.
We would love to hear your thoughts!
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Select links
Below are links to some of the organisations and resources that either were mentioned during the episode, or otherwise, might be useful:
- The New York Times article, I Took a ‘Decision Holiday’ and Put A.I. in Charge of My Life
- ICT Pulse Podcast episode, ICTP 160: Understanding how technology perpetuates bias, with Matthew Cowen, of dgtlfutures.com
- ICT Pulse Podcast episode, ICTP 187: Artificial Intelligence, key emerging issues and opportunities, with Matthew Cowen
- Joy Buolamwini book, Unmasking AI: My Mission to Protect What Is Human in a World of Machines
- MIT Technology Review article, We read the paper that forced Timnit Gebru out of Google. Here’s what it says.
- The New York Times article, Google Researcher Says She Was Fired Over Paper Highlighting Bias in A.I.
- The Guardian article, ‘There was all sorts of toxic behaviour’: Timnit Gebru on her sacking by Google, AI’s dangers and big tech’s biases
- People magazine article, Teen, 14, Dies by Suicide After Falling in ‘Love’ with AI Chatbot. Now His Mom Is Suing
- Dominica News Online article, CXC launches AI-assisted literacy and numeracy to combat educational decline
Image credit: Micha (Pixabay)
Music credit: The Last Word (Oui Ma Chérie), by Andy Narrell
