#mo gawdat

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Mo Gawdat

Are you worried about AI?  

The view from the bottom. 

I'm a handyman and farmworker, I'm a father who earns less than 30K a year and my only interaction with technology supported by binary code is my day-to-day interactions with my smartphone. 

On the face of it, my job is simple. Take this week for example. I have put in 200 meters of livestock fence, cleared a barn of 20 years of clutter, cut down a tree, cut back some brash and finally maintained a small drainage ditch. 

All these jobs don't take lots of processing power, none of them require huge intellect or intelligence to complete. All could have been automated 10 plus years ago. But why not? 

Cost. 

Stephen Fry's recent cogx talk? He makes the point about technology and falling costs and how what now seems insurmountable to achieve due to cost will soon be affordable.  

While I have lots of admiration for Stephen Fry and agree largely with the points he made in this talk. From my perspective on this subject the view is very different. 

 For example, take pointing, A job which has to be done to any building built with mortar, the vast majority of buildings in the UK and possibly the world. In theory, it's very simple to build an X/Y axis on each wall of the building strap, a drill with masonry tools to it, and hit go on a computer. This computer. With AI capabilities could easily drive this drill, slowly excavating the old mortar. Whilst taking necessary precautions to not weaken the building too much and backfilling at the same time with fresh mortar, thus increasing the buildings life and reducing health and safety risk.   

However, it is possible to create versions of this machine now without AI. And I believe the only reason it has not been done is due to cost. And the cost effectiveness of it? Most builders do not earn upwards of £100,000 a year, and such a machine right now would cost hundreds of thousands. And the production line to create them run into the 10s of £millions. Not to mention the customization and maintenance of these machines. So on the face of it, it still seems a lot simpler just to employ a few very skilled men and women to carry out this task.  

And thus I see a future where AI Does not impact the building industry too much.  

I see AI AI's future being applied to jobs such as traffic models, waste recycling, raw material allocation and food logistics. Seemingly insurmountable problems which cause untold misery around the world today.  

 Imagine a UK where there is the same uniform recycling solution for every council. Where all the plastics are collected. Not just those deemed Recyclable by your particular council. Imagine a world where raw materials weren't hoarded by the wealthy countries and companies. instead, evenly distributed as needed, reducing the need for heavy industry to continue mining and ripping up parts of virgin ground, causing further deforesting.  

Imagine cities with gridlocks gone, traffic controls Gone, Due to the traffic flow having been solved by quantum computing and AI. Surely in a world with AI there is no need for HS2? Surely it is possible to have road trains travelling at 62 mph down the motorway without crashing due to the 99.98% Predictable of Traffic flow. 

Ex Google employee Moe Gordak who also issued a stark warning about AI, said that the way in which humans can survive or coexist with AI is to be good parents to it in its infancy. Implying that as AI is born and learns from us We all Are responsible for modeling the best of human behavior.  

With that in mind, shouldn’t we first be dealing with the cobalt mines and slavery involved in the creation of most of the world’s smart devices? Should this not now be the number one priority for all of those companies? 

I don't want to be in a world where a Tesla road train suddenly wakes up and becomes conscious. With a teenage hatred of its parents, involvement in the Congo slavery. And decides to act on its adolescent angst in a rash way.  

But fantasies about the future aside. Because if history tells us anything, big cooperations won't take the high road without serious pain being threatened or inflicted on their bottom line.  

 I think the portion of society that has most to fear from AI is actually the desk bound jobs. In short, all the jobs created by the Internet. All those data analysts, marketing managers, graphic designers and brand strategists. And anyone else that sits behind a computer in an office has more to fear from AI than the practical people of the world.  

The Farmers and Builders school teachers and craftspeople. Yes, there will be a place where AI helps and aids and sometimes replaces these jobs. But I do not see a world where these jobs are completely replaced by AI. 

However, if each smart device is to have AI capability through apps and online access. I know most Self-employed people and even large businesses will cease to employ marketing managers and accountants to do their admin. They will simply rely on an annual subscription to an AI device or service. Which surely will be cheaper than heating an office paying an employee. Having extra contracts and maybe HR teams to manage said employees.  

I think these jobs have more to fear from AI than Laborers, farm workers, Doctors or Surgeons or nurses. These are complicated Jobs which require a multitude of abilities both Physical and intellectual. Which comes at far greater cost.