There is a lot of talk about "Artificial Intelligence" today, but it looks to me like most of those talking heads do not know what they are talking about. This blog will try to shed some light on the subject.
Since the beginning of human history there has been a gradual shift, driven by Darwin, from rewarding physical skills to rewarding intellectual skills. Look at the Neanderthals who were bigger and stronger than modern humans. They are not around anymore. They were replaced by a group of modern humans who were more intellectual and who could use and make tools. I would like to remind you that this business of making and using tools is still alive and well to day and it is only accelerating! As I have pointed out in prior blogs, Darwin provided us enough intellect to get the job done, but that was when the rate of change was much slower. What is happening now with artificial intelligence is that it is a means of increasing the "efficiency" of the utilization of the limited intellect that we have. Are you following this?
Think of the impact of when the human race created a written form of their language. Think of the impact of that and how the special intellect of a few people could be multiplied. Think about books and the printing press. Those were changes that allowed the human race to get more mileage out of the limited amount of intellect that we had. How about schools which mostly just teach people of lower intellect how to solve problems using algorithms that were invented by people of higher intellect. Have you ever invented a new algorithm for any thing? I did not think so.
Now, exactly what is artificial intelligence? It is a set of basic algorithms that can directly apply knowledge and intellect all by themselves. There is no need for a less intellect human interface. It is a lot like algorithms that we used to teach in our schools so our kids could apply new algorithms. We don't need the kids any more. I have developed "expert systems" which are a subclass of artificial intelligence. I would take my best trouble shooter and extract from that person how they solved complex problems and put that process into a computer program. With that program, I could then hire lesser intellect engineers who would then use these programs to quickly solve problems that they were not able to solve with just their own knowledge or intellect. This is what we are talking about.
In the old days, I used to design machines that were controlled by "cams" that could machine any part accurately and quickly. The very cheap digital computer obsoleted those methods of machining parts. Rather than using "cams", we now use a program stored in the computer that can do every thing that the special purpose "cams" could do. One of the limiting factors in those days was the need for a human to take parts from one machine and put them into another. Now, we have robotics that can do the same things that humans used to have to do. There has been more change in this area in the last 25 years than there was in the last 250 years. That is the kind of rate of change that I am trying to make you appreciate.
Here is the big factor. The value of people of low intellect is going "down". That is a fact and it is not going to change. The value of those of high intellect is going "up" and it is going up faster than it ever has. That is a fact too. As I pointed out above, the efficiency in the use of intellect will make intellect even more valuable and that means those of high intellect will earn even more than those of low intellect. I don't know how this is going to end up, but unions or government polices for the low intellect people will not be the solution. I just hope that those of high intellect who will be the even bigger earners of the future will figure out how to humanly care for those of lower intellect. I also hope that those of lower intellect will not revolt against those of higher intellect and screw up the system for every one.
Artificial intelligence is "not" new, it is just a continuation of historic human progress!
PS--There is a lot less of really high intellect in the human race than most people think. Most of us just learn algorithms and then think we are smart because we know how to use them. The really smart ones are the ones who come up with new algorithms or new useful inventions. How smart do you think Pythagoras was when he figured out that the spacings of the frets on a guitar was a function of the 12th root of 2? He did it without pencil or paper too. If you have read many PhD dissertations, you might have noticed how little new worthwhile knowledge that they contain. Most do not contain anything that would really indicate that the person was one of these really smart people who discovered a new algorithm. When one does show up, the lights get much brighter for the human race. AI might be one!
PS--I feel that breeding patterns affect intellect and it is clear that humans of lower intellect breed more than those of higher intellect. Muslims also allow breeding among close relatives. This is the main reason that there are so many mentally retarded Muslims and those who have birth defects. In a prior blog, I proposed that if the human intellect is going down, it asks the question, "When was the intellect of the human race the highest?" Will the lower intellect humans end up like the Neanderthals?
Since the beginning of human history there has been a gradual shift, driven by Darwin, from rewarding physical skills to rewarding intellectual skills. Look at the Neanderthals who were bigger and stronger than modern humans. They are not around anymore. They were replaced by a group of modern humans who were more intellectual and who could use and make tools. I would like to remind you that this business of making and using tools is still alive and well to day and it is only accelerating! As I have pointed out in prior blogs, Darwin provided us enough intellect to get the job done, but that was when the rate of change was much slower. What is happening now with artificial intelligence is that it is a means of increasing the "efficiency" of the utilization of the limited intellect that we have. Are you following this?
Think of the impact of when the human race created a written form of their language. Think of the impact of that and how the special intellect of a few people could be multiplied. Think about books and the printing press. Those were changes that allowed the human race to get more mileage out of the limited amount of intellect that we had. How about schools which mostly just teach people of lower intellect how to solve problems using algorithms that were invented by people of higher intellect. Have you ever invented a new algorithm for any thing? I did not think so.
Now, exactly what is artificial intelligence? It is a set of basic algorithms that can directly apply knowledge and intellect all by themselves. There is no need for a less intellect human interface. It is a lot like algorithms that we used to teach in our schools so our kids could apply new algorithms. We don't need the kids any more. I have developed "expert systems" which are a subclass of artificial intelligence. I would take my best trouble shooter and extract from that person how they solved complex problems and put that process into a computer program. With that program, I could then hire lesser intellect engineers who would then use these programs to quickly solve problems that they were not able to solve with just their own knowledge or intellect. This is what we are talking about.
In the old days, I used to design machines that were controlled by "cams" that could machine any part accurately and quickly. The very cheap digital computer obsoleted those methods of machining parts. Rather than using "cams", we now use a program stored in the computer that can do every thing that the special purpose "cams" could do. One of the limiting factors in those days was the need for a human to take parts from one machine and put them into another. Now, we have robotics that can do the same things that humans used to have to do. There has been more change in this area in the last 25 years than there was in the last 250 years. That is the kind of rate of change that I am trying to make you appreciate.
Here is the big factor. The value of people of low intellect is going "down". That is a fact and it is not going to change. The value of those of high intellect is going "up" and it is going up faster than it ever has. That is a fact too. As I pointed out above, the efficiency in the use of intellect will make intellect even more valuable and that means those of high intellect will earn even more than those of low intellect. I don't know how this is going to end up, but unions or government polices for the low intellect people will not be the solution. I just hope that those of high intellect who will be the even bigger earners of the future will figure out how to humanly care for those of lower intellect. I also hope that those of lower intellect will not revolt against those of higher intellect and screw up the system for every one.
Artificial intelligence is "not" new, it is just a continuation of historic human progress!
PS--There is a lot less of really high intellect in the human race than most people think. Most of us just learn algorithms and then think we are smart because we know how to use them. The really smart ones are the ones who come up with new algorithms or new useful inventions. How smart do you think Pythagoras was when he figured out that the spacings of the frets on a guitar was a function of the 12th root of 2? He did it without pencil or paper too. If you have read many PhD dissertations, you might have noticed how little new worthwhile knowledge that they contain. Most do not contain anything that would really indicate that the person was one of these really smart people who discovered a new algorithm. When one does show up, the lights get much brighter for the human race. AI might be one!
PS--I feel that breeding patterns affect intellect and it is clear that humans of lower intellect breed more than those of higher intellect. Muslims also allow breeding among close relatives. This is the main reason that there are so many mentally retarded Muslims and those who have birth defects. In a prior blog, I proposed that if the human intellect is going down, it asks the question, "When was the intellect of the human race the highest?" Will the lower intellect humans end up like the Neanderthals?
