July 18 – Technology has given the world Artificial Intelligence (AI). Just like in a sci-fi movie straight out of the 1980s, AI can do everything from turning on your air conditioner to telling you which fruit is ripe in the supermarket.
That last one isn’t a joke. There are actually robots out there that can pick the ripest supermarket raspberries on the shelves and put it in your basket.
Is that cool or creepy?
If this is allowed to really run amuck, what could the future look like?
China has already put rules and guidelines in place for AI, but in the US, as is par for the course nowadays, we seem to be somewhat divided.
Our legislators are either saying AI needs to be a topic on the agenda, or they’re saying they don’t fear AI.
Add to that, a recent poll showed that 76 percent of Generation Z is worried about losing their jobs to Chat GPT, a natural language processing tool driven by AI, and you can see how this topic is a hot one.
Pat Ryan of NewsTalk 103.7FM suggested, “Somebody’s got to step in here and be an adult in the room.”
Attorney Clint Barkdoll said, “I agree and regardless of one’s political leaning, I think this is an issue the government needs to be very watchful on. There was some reporting last week that Congressional committees are looking at ways to insulate things like the nuclear codes, certain even banking infrastructure from making sure there’s no way that AI could access it. Obviously the concern is if AI got into those systems, you can have awful outcomes. China, they seem to be way ahead in regulating the use of it.”
Two or three months ago, more than 100 technology moguls from around the world sent a letter to the US government and other world leaders warning that AI was getting quickly out of control.
Barkdoll said, “They were even calling for a pause on it because they really felt that it was going to ruin certain societies or certain types of operations within our systems. Right now in the US, it seems like our government is way behind on this issue.”
Add to that an analysis of 3.8 million job postings discovered that only 35 percent of entry-level positions require at least three years of experience.
Ryan said, “There’s also fewer managers willing to teach. About 50% of employees received no formal job training from their employer over the past year. There’s a workforce element to this whole thing when it comes to Gen Z, the ones that want to work out there.”
Barkdoll pointed out, “Here’s a prime example. This strike is going on in Hollywood with the actors and the writers. One of the linchpins in that labor dispute from the writers is they want a provision in their contract that no television programming can be written by Artificial Intelligence. Well, that’s not a mistake. They know that you could plug in a general idea to Chat GPT and it will generate an entire script for a movie or a 30 minute sitcom. You can extrapolate that example to almost every industry in the world right now and if you keep taking that out to the nth degree, you could see where there could just be massive job displacement if this got implemented in a big way.”
Congressman John Joyce added, “The Chinese Communist Party should not become the standard bearer, the developer of Artificial Intelligence. We know that the Chinese Communist Party and their surveillance continues to violate the privacy which are constitutionally guaranteed for you, for me, for everyone in America. So now is the time for Energy and Commerce, the committee where I serve in Washington, to address the issue of Artificial Intelligence. This technology needs to be developed and led by American innovation. That is the only way that we can safely do this. This must occur with safeguards regarding privacy. That’s my job here in Washington, to make sure that your privacy, your constitutional right is maintained. This is something that we are taking up on Energy and Commerce. These discussions have been occurring for the last several weeks. I think that we need to make sure that Artificial Intelligence as it is developed, is done in a safe manner that protects all of our freedoms.”
