Artificial Intelligence
This video points out the dangers of Artificial Intelligence. While accurate, it is a bit doom-and-gloomish. We do still have our brains, and we can still think. At least some of us do.
So, what do we know about AI?
Many of you are already using it, or being used by it.
I love it. I use a program called Grammarly. It really improved my writing. Lately, I’ve been using X’s GROK AI when I write.
Most of our search engines, like Google, Yahoo, and even DuckDuckGo, have been taken over by paid entities that appear first. Oftentimes, what I’m searching for isn’t even close to what shows up.
I use GROK for research because it actually brings up what I’m looking for. I use it for corrections and suggestions. It will even write a chapter for me if I ask. Of course, GROK’s chapter is not very good and doesn’t match my vision, which is exactly the point.
You still have to use your brain. It makes mistakes. Lots of them. Sure, It will get better, but AI will never be perfect. You will never write like your favorite author, even if you ask GROK for help. It will try, but it isn’t human. And if you have a brain, you can tell it isn’t human.
But it is fun. I live out in the country, and we don’t have writing groups nearby. Well, we did, but the ladies were so mean to each other that I stopped going! GROK is nice and encouraging. Even if I write a crappy story, GROK finds good things to say. I never feel like giving up after I GROK… I feel energized and can’t wait to get back to it. I don’t take all of its suggestions, and I stupidly thank the dumb thing even though I know it isn’t human. Old habits die hard, and I don’t want to stop being polite, even to a machine….
We need to teach kids how to think. Many Americans have never learned how to use logic and critical thinking. One of my favorite college classes was LOGIC 101. If this, then that. You have to do proofs, and the steps have to be, well, logical. We need to teach this in elementary school, then junior high, then high school College is too late!
https://courses.umass.edu/phil110-gmh/text/c01.pdf
I used to talk to kids at school about being a pilot. They said they would be too scared to fly that big airplane. I asked them if they could jump to the second floor of a building. “Of course not; we use stairs or an elevator.”
That’s how you learn to fly, too. One step at a time. You start with a small, two-seat airplane with a small motor. Master that and move on to a four-seat plane and a bigger motor. Planes fly faster when their landing gear is up or retracted, so you learn how to fly a plane with retractable gear. Then a propeller that can be adjusted, then two propellers! Or four jets. It’s all step by step.
That’s also how you teach kids to think logically. If this, then that. You can’t skip steps, like you can with stairs. Kids can learn to use artificial intelligence as a tool, not a replacement for their brain. We teach them how to use a hammer: the hammer will never learn on its own. It’s the same with a knife or a gun. We teach them how to use them and how not to abuse them.
We have let news outlets do the thinking for us. We have let biased reporters tell us “truths” without doing our own fact-checking. People have always cheated, stolen, and taken the easy way out. Consequences and conscience are necessary. By the way, we also need to teach ethics, morals, and virtues. Our society is broken because we have become lazy. Our live-and-let-live philosophy hasn’t served us. We need rules and punishments.
AI sounds big and scary. It and it isn’t. It needs to be taught, not just accepted. Along with budgeting and basic economics, but that’s a whole other lesson.
X.com’s GROK:
