A couple of months ago, there was a news story about a Dallas-based company called Colossal Biosciences that announced ambitious plans to revive extinct species, such as the woolly mammoth and dodo bird. The firm has raised over $225 million in funding from investors, and will use state-of-the-art genetic technology to try and recreate these long-lost animals.
I don’t know about your situation, but I’m pretty sure my condo association’s list of approved pets does not include woolly mammoths. And what do these creatures eat, anyway? I’ve got a feeling a couple of cans of Purina ONE are not going to impress Mr. Mammoth.
I don’t know about your situation, but I’m pretty sure my condo association’s list of approved pets does not include woolly mammoths. And what do these creatures eat, anyway? I’ve got a feeling a couple of cans of Purina ONE are not going to impress Mr. Mammoth.
At the same time the “extinct species” story was making headlines, there were many articles about Artificial Intelligence, specifically the online program called ChatGPT, which can quickly compose essays using all the knowledge available on the Internet. You just type a simple request or question and the program instantly spits out a 500-word narrative that is filled with facts and figures, and is written with excellent grammar.
It has become commonplace nowadays for published writers to instruct ChatGPT to compose a short essay. The writer begins an article with the computer-generated prose, and after five or six neatly-worded paragraphs, reveals how those words actually were written. Usually the author wonders whether anyone could tell the difference, and then playfully speculates whether ChatGPT can write all future articles, freeing up lots of time. If you read between the lines, however, there is a palpable undercurrent of unease, as both the author and the readers are fully aware that editors and publishers are asking the same question. There will be plenty of free time if computer software can replace all writers and journalists.
It has become commonplace nowadays for published writers to instruct ChatGPT to compose a short essay. The writer begins an article with the computer-generated prose, and after five or six neatly-worded paragraphs, reveals how those words actually were written. Usually the author wonders whether anyone could tell the difference, and then playfully speculates whether ChatGPT can write all future articles, freeing up lots of time. If you read between the lines, however, there is a palpable undercurrent of unease, as both the author and the readers are fully aware that editors and publishers are asking the same question. There will be plenty of free time if computer software can replace all writers and journalists.
Recently, a friend asked me if ChatGPT can write my columns for me. I replied, “Well, I heard that Artificial Intelligence software doesn’t really have a sense of humor.”
My friend replied, “What’s that got to do with your columns?” to which I said, “Remind me again, why are we friends?”
I read a couple of articles that claim ChatGPT is only the beginning. Quite soon, it is said, Artificial Intelligence will be so powerful that it will monitor and control all aspects of our lives, such as what we eat, where we work, and what entertainment options are available. It will all be controlled and operated by high-speed computers.
These two prominent news stories — scientists trying to bring extinct species back to life and super-intelligent computers running everything — make me ask a simple question: didn’t anyone watch movies during the 1980s?
A couple of the most iconic films in Hollywood history tell us everything we need to know about how these scientific innovations will turn out: “Jurassic Park” and “Terminator.”
If you’re not familiar with those movies, Jurassic Park tells the tale of brilliant genetic scientists who bring dinosaurs back to life and put them in a festive, family-friendly theme park. Not surprisingly, halfway through the film a lot of people become hors d’oeuvres for a T-Rex.
My friend replied, “What’s that got to do with your columns?” to which I said, “Remind me again, why are we friends?”
I read a couple of articles that claim ChatGPT is only the beginning. Quite soon, it is said, Artificial Intelligence will be so powerful that it will monitor and control all aspects of our lives, such as what we eat, where we work, and what entertainment options are available. It will all be controlled and operated by high-speed computers.
These two prominent news stories — scientists trying to bring extinct species back to life and super-intelligent computers running everything — make me ask a simple question: didn’t anyone watch movies during the 1980s?
A couple of the most iconic films in Hollywood history tell us everything we need to know about how these scientific innovations will turn out: “Jurassic Park” and “Terminator.”
If you’re not familiar with those movies, Jurassic Park tells the tale of brilliant genetic scientists who bring dinosaurs back to life and put them in a festive, family-friendly theme park. Not surprisingly, halfway through the film a lot of people become hors d’oeuvres for a T-Rex.
In “Terminator,” high-speed computers start running everything in society, and then one day the computers decide human beings are expendable, and embark on a systematic program of genocide. Except it occurs in the future, when the computers also develop a method of time travel, and, well, it’s really hard to explain. Please download the movie and watch it, before the computers decide no one is allowed to see it anymore.
And in case you’re wondering, this column was NOT composed by ChatGPT, even though, as my friend noted, the level of humor is minimal. You can tell this is not computer-generated because, as usual, the run-on sentences and poor grammar are noticeably of human origin.
No comments:
Post a Comment