Artificial Intelligence is taking over our world. No wonder many of us are scared of it.
Science Fiction has a strange way of becoming Science Fact, to paraphrase Carl Sagan, who said, "I find science so much more fascinating than science fiction. It also has the advantage of being true," yet “ten-year-olds do not read scientific literature."
Arthur C Clarke proposed the idea of geostationary communication satellites in a 1945 article decades before the first real communications satellite (like Telstar in 1962) was launched. The iconic theme music of 2001 has become so culturally powerful that many people associate it with the real Apollo missions, even if it wasn't actually played by NASA crews on the way to the Moon. My ‘claim to fame’ is visiting him in his home in Colombo, Sri Lanka, in 1989
Tesla plans to build 10,000 humanoid robots in 2025. Musk is barrelling forward, instead of heeding the SciFi warnings of Matrix and Terminator of the war against humanity. Or taking precautions from other SciFi authors, especially those like Sagan, Asimov and Clarke who are also scientists. Isaac Asimov’s I: Robot, redefining the Czech 'robota', meaning ‘forced labour or drudgery’, to a mechanical intelligent being and with more technological, ethical context and logical framework protecting humans with ‘Three Laws of Robotics’ exploring boundaries between artificial intelligence and humanity. Clarke’s 2001: A Space Odyssey showed the moral conflict without those laws, where HAL the computer’s reaction to keeping a secret without a moral code was to kill the crew to solve this.
I made “one small step” (tribute to Apollo 11 mission to the Moon July 20, 1969) by trying out ChatGPT, the least scary part of AI, after a lecture by Ian Hendricks. This interesting man designed bifocal and multifocal lenses, developed materials, robotics and lens design software. His skills in photo restoration technology, PhotoWonder, impressively repairs photographs, even colourising black‑and‑white images, almost instantly. Sadly, he has since died.
He made ChatGPT sound almost like a human brain. Likening it to a large bowl containing everything from the Internet, accessed similar to the brain’s neural pathways. Just like our memories it needs to be triggered to ‘remember’. So at first ask, it may not understand what is being asked, but by ‘chatting’ with it, both parties trigger ‘memories’. Funny enough, being polite gets better responses, just like with another human.
He said those collaborating with AI won’t be out of work. Humans are creative, instinctive and unpredictable. We need to figure out what we can do that AI can’t do, and let AI do the menial tasks.
I had a burning question to ask ChatGPT, one that I hadn’t been able to find the answer to by more conventional methods. I wanted to find a wood carver who I met at a dinner party years ago. Brian talked about carving black lacquered lilies and roses that sat on top of a matching grand piano with a paua inlay, and another red lacquered grand with intricate Māori carvings, designed and directed by artist Michael Parekōwhai.
A Google search revealed it “was intricately sculpted under his direction – but notably, not by Parekōwhai himself nor a Māori artisan. Instead, the entire carving (from the legs to the pierced lid) was executed by a single non-Māori carver, working closely with the artist’s design and guidance.” blog.tepapa.govt.nz
I phoned Lopdell House and Te Papa to be referred to his agent, who did not respond to my email inquiry. So I started chatting with ChatGPT, it said, “Parekōwhai describes it as an “authentic fake”: a work shaped by his creative vision yet materially crafted by another. Unfortunately, the public record doesn’t reveal the identity of that carver—it remains anonymous, contributing to the layered narrative and collaboration integral to the piece.” - A dead end, no closer to finding Brian’s identity.
I put on my thinking cap. I remembered him entering his own work at Auckland Botanic Gardens outdoor sculptural exhibition. ChatGPT gave a number of wood carving ‘Brians’, not the one I was looking for. Then I had an epiphany, the artwork was a magpie. ChatGPT told me the artist was 'Bryan Verey', I recognised his name. The spelling of Brian/Bryan had fooled it, a mistake humans wouldn’t have made. I Googled ‘Bryan Verey’, and his obituary from 2020, triggering my memory of his grey skin and failing health.
I barely scratched the surface of AI in using ChatGPT. It relies on the Internet, so it’s not necessarily true. I know that I have been misquoted a number of times and factually incorrect information has been written about me.
Gael Baldock, community advocate, GaelB@xtra.co.nz
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