The real challenges of AI
The real challenge of AI is democratisation.
We are in middle of a boom in AI. While it may seem like a sudden explosion in the media; this moment has been building for 15+ years now. From the birth of the internet, to the huge explosion in online information, to algorithmic feeds, then voice assistants, and now at Generative AI/Large language feeds - every invention has grown on the bedrock of technologies before it.
Of course, the fervour we see now is from people experiencing a step change in technology. Till December 2022 you had to write eassy using your own brain and hands; come January 2023 you just provide a small prompt and voila! ChatGPT will write a whole essay for you. WOW.
But we've played this game many times before:
New technology is available
The technology gets hyped and people are promised a better future
Technology gets widely deployed
In the process of societal adoption, it gets co-opted by
Eventually, it gets completely owned by . The new boss is the same as the old boss. The average person is nowhere better.
One interesting aspect of computers is that they are comparatively much more accessible; order(s) of magnitude more accessible.
The steam engine was firmly on the capital side of the equation; it powered everything from trains to factories but it was a while before mechanisation entered the home and became accessible to the average person. Yet overtime we've given up on things like sewing machines and become strictly consumers.
Computing and the internet sit firmly in the middle. Almost by definition - every laptop & smartphone is the "means of production". The entire "internet" however is but a handful of companies; yet because of its inherently decentralised nature; everything from Mastodon to torrents and more can and do exist.
If it wasn't for that design; the internet would like the TV - with much less control in the hands of citizens.
The challenge with AI is to keep it's capabilities as democratically accessibly and user programable as possible; with the internet being the minimum bar. Thankfully with models being open sourced and even run on Raspberry Pi's, we are off to a good start! But we must remain watchful and make sure this happens.
People of my ilk (technologists) are gung ho about applying AI to anything and everything - but this question of democratisation is much fundamental and its effects more pervasive.
