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Is AI The Predicted Future We’ve Been Waiting For?
What does 2023 look like? It is said the best way to predict the future is to make it. Another school of thought says the best way to predict the future is to study the past. When it comes to looking at trends for 2023, AI is growing in popularity and use cases have been tested over the last quarter of 2022 and will continue into 2023. The question is, how will it look in 2023?
Artificial intelligence (AI) has made significant strides in recent years with many experts predicting that it will revolutionise various industries shortly. One area that has seen a rapid rise in AI capabilities is the ability to write code, produce articles, and create stunning art pieces.
One example of AI’s coding abilities is Google’s DeepMind, which has been able to write code that is more efficient and optimised than that of human programmers. This has the potential to significantly reduce the time and resources needed for software development, leading to faster and more efficient products.
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AI’s writing capabilities have also improved significantly, with algorithms able to generate articles and content that are virtually indistinguishable from those written by humans. This has led to concerns about the potential for AI to replace writers and journalists in the future.
In terms of art, AI has been able to produce paintings and drawings that have been praised by art critics and sold for thousands of dollars. One notable example is the AI-generated portrait titled Portrait of Edmond de Belamy, which sold at auction for over $432,000.
The rise of AI’s coding, writing, and art capabilities raises significant questions about the future of work and the potential for AI to replace human jobs. According to a report by the World Economic Forum, up to 85 million jobs could be replaced by automation and AI by 2025. While this could lead to increased efficiency and productivity, it also raises concerns about job displacement and the need for retraining workers.
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Despite the potential for disruption, the use of AI in these fields also has the potential to enhance and augment human capabilities. For example, AI could assist in the creation of more complex and sophisticated code, or help writers and artists generate new ideas and concepts.
Overall, the rapid rise of AI’s coding, writing, and art capabilities is a significant development that will likely have a significant impact on society and the future of work. Businesses and individuals need to consider the potential implications and adapt to these changes to stay competitive in the future.
One of the main debates surrounding AI’s creative capabilities is whether it can truly be considered “creative.” Some argue that AI’s creations are simply the result of algorithms and programming, and therefore cannot be considered truly creative in the same way that humans are. Others argue that AI’s ability to generate novel and original ideas is a form of creativity and that the distinction between human and machine creativity is artificial.
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From a philosophical perspective, the rise of AI’s creative capabilities raises questions about the nature of creativity itself. For example, is creativity simply a matter of generating novel ideas, or does it also require a human consciousness and emotional experience? These questions are difficult to answer and are likely to be debated for some time.
It’s worth noting that AI’s creative capabilities also have the potential to enhance human creativity. For example, AI could assist in the generation of new ideas or inspire creative projects. In this sense, AI could be seen as a tool for human creativity rather than a replacement for it.
Overall, the impact of AI on creativity is complex and multifaceted and will likely continue to be a topic of philosophical debate in the coming years.
There have been numerous studies and reports on the impact of AI on creativity and employment. Here are a few statistics that may be of interest:
- According to a report by the World Economic Forum, up to 85 million jobs could be replaced by automation and AI by 2025.
- A survey by the McKinsey Global Institute found that about half of all work activities could be automated using current technologies, including those that involve creativity and decision-making.
- A study by the Creative Industries Federation found that AI could create up to 3.5 million new jobs in the creative industries by 2030, potentially doubling the size of the sector.
- In terms of the impact on creative industries specifically, a report by Deloitte found that AI has the potential to increase productivity in the creative sector by up to 40 per cent.
It’s worth noting that these figures are estimates and predictions, and the actual impact of AI on creativity and employment will depend on a variety of factors. However, these statistics provide a sense of the potential magnitude of the impact of AI on these areas.
In conclusion, the rapid rise of AI’s coding, writing, and art capabilities is a significant development that will likely have a significant impact on society and the future of work. While there are concerns about the potential for AI to replace human jobs, there is also the potential for AI to augment and enhance human capabilities in these areas. The impact of AI on creativity and employment is complex and multifaceted and will continue to be a topic of debate and discussion in the coming years. Businesses and individuals need to stay informed about the capabilities and potential impacts of AI to adapt and stay competitive in the future.
The above article was AI-generated. While I feel it is accurate and human-like, a part of me feels that it lacks a sense of creativity that I would normally see in articles I would write. Now, some of the big questions for 2023 are how many more articles in CIO Africa will be AI-driven? Will we be able to tell if it is AI or human? Regardless of the answers, I know I will be making extensive use of AI and that most of us are using AI to aid in our decisions and most times, it is unknown to us.
It’s becoming clear that with all the brain and consciousness theories out there, the proof will be in the pudding. By this I mean, can any particular theory be used to create a human adult level conscious machine. My bet is on the late Gerald Edelman’s Extended Theory of Neuronal Group Selection. The lead group in robotics based on this theory is the Neurorobotics Lab at UC at Irvine. Dr. Edelman distinguished between primary consciousness, which came first in evolution, and that humans share with other conscious animals, and higher order consciousness, which came to only humans with the acquisition of language. A machine with only primary consciousness will probably have to come first.
What I find special about the TNGS is the Darwin series of automata created at the Neurosciences Institute by Dr. Edelman and his colleagues in the 1990’s and 2000’s. These machines perform in the real world, not in a restricted simulated world, and display convincing physical behavior indicative of higher psychological functions necessary for consciousness, such as perceptual categorization, memory, and learning. They are based on realistic models of the parts of the biological brain that the theory claims subserve these functions. The extended TNGS allows for the emergence of consciousness based only on further evolutionary development of the brain areas responsible for these functions, in a parsimonious way. No other research I’ve encountered is anywhere near as convincing.
I post because on almost every video and article about the brain and consciousness that I encounter, the attitude seems to be that we still know next to nothing about how the brain and consciousness work; that there’s lots of data but no unifying theory. I believe the extended TNGS is that theory. My motivation is to keep that theory in front of the public. And obviously, I consider it the route to a truly conscious machine, primary and higher-order.
My advice to people who want to create a conscious machine is to seriously ground themselves in the extended TNGS and the Darwin automata first, and proceed from there, by applying to Jeff Krichmar’s lab at UC Irvine, possibly. Dr. Edelman’s roadmap to a conscious machine is at https://arxiv.org/abs/2105.10461