Project 3
Cover Letter for Final Draft
Samantha Instructor’s Letter Project Three: AI as a “Liberatory Technology” 8/16/2019 Dear Mike,
Welcome! Thank you for reading my last and final paper, it’s crazy to think the summer is almost done! It flew by so fast, but I am excited to be back up at Michigan State. I’m eager to share what I’ve been working on since Project Two and to tie in everything I have learned from this past summer semester about Artificial Intelligence (AI). The purpose of this paper is to write a piece for the IEEE Intelligent Systems. It will talk about whether or not AI can be used as a “liberatory technology” and to address the potential AI can make in our lives. To answer this prompt, I looked to the infographic page and tried to focus on areas where AI holds the greatest potential, AI-human relationships, and the overall knowledge we need to design “ethical robots”. My thesis draws upon AI benefiting the human race and my paper supports this idea from several publications, videos, readings, etc. In general, I believe my essay is effective because of my arrangement and style of the piece.
For starters, the arrangement was one element that made my essay effective. I first introduced my piece, talking about technology. I mention, “Technology is one move that is pulling humanity left and right.”. I wanted to touch on the use of technology and the direction it’s going in so the reader can easily follow along and would be something they can relate to. I then talk about AI in the following paragraph, labeling the section as, “What is AI and its Future”. I thought this title would be thought-provoking to the reader and the next logical step for my paper. In this paragraph, I draw upon past videos and readings we had during the semester. It is also when I mention my thesis, stating how AI can be used for good and how humanity can benefit from it. I tried to compile all the articles, videos, and etc to find similarities between them. I did this in my following analysis sections of the paper, under the “AI for the Force of Good”. I wanted to focus on specific areas where AI could make the most impact, and I found that to be in the medical industry. I dedicated a paragraph just talking about that because it directly affects lives, and as a reader, I would be enticed by the research that was included in my synopsis. After this, I began to address the other side of my argument. I write, “Privacy, control, and jobs are just a few concerns many people have about AI. People’s liberties are at risk of being compromised.”. I thought, since I have only been concentrating on the positives of AI, I needed to make sure I would incorporate the negatives. I believe that made me a credible writer to the reader and to show that I do know about the possible limitations and roadblocks of this technology. What I also do in this paragraph, is provide solutions on how to tackle those problems, and arranging it in a fashion that makes my paper intriguing. Structuring the paper to start out talking about technology, then AI, benefits AI provides, addressing the other side, and concluding all of my findings makes my essay effective.
In conjunction with the arrangement of my essay, the style of this also makes my piece powerful. My focus this time around was to provide quotes from experts. I wanted to make sure their voices were heard and to further back up my claims to make sure I sounded credible and wasn’t making things up. For example, I provide a quote from the University of Southampton professor, Amy Hall, “…how to regulate the AI and robotics industries in a way that is good for humanity.”. I pull in an additional three professors who study and research AI every day to support my thesis further. Amy brings up a good point in her quote. It talks about the importance of regulating such influential technology and is something we as a public need to consider and wanted to make sure I empathized this in my paper. Driving attention towards human life and the overall algorithms of how these AI machines are built, were two areas I talked quite a bit on. It created my unique style. For example, I mention, “AI has the power to make our lives easier and better. I see the most impact in the medical world, with the hopes of AI curing cancer, or acting as a psychological counselor.”. My hope with these sentences was to persuade the person reading my paper; to learn more about AI and engage with my writing. I felt like my style in this was both suspenseful and hopeful. Suspenseful in the way when I say, “AI has the power to make our lives easier and better”. That sentence right there makes you wonder why I am stating this and to investigate further. It is also hopeful when I write, “…of AI curing cancer, or acting as a psychological counselor.”. I also wanted to be a “one-stop shop” in the sense that if you wanted to learn about AI and its future, you would only have to read my paper. I did this by arranging it in a way that introduces what technology is changing in our lives and then focusing on the potential impacts and consequences of AI. I add, “I believe the use of policies and other safety precautions could ease some of the concerns about the future development of AI.”. I put this in my paper to tell the reader that I am looking at a problem from all angles. One, focusing on the benefits, while also measuring the potential negatives of technology like AI. In sum, I believe that my unique style makes my paper an effective piece to engage with.
The feedback I received was generally positive! I appreciated the time and effort my peers took to dive into my paper and provide solid opinions on my work. I saw some correlations between my two classmates, Connor Curnette and Shaya Master. They both said that they were a little confused about the layout of my paper. Connor commented that he wanted my first paragraph to include my thesis and overall opinion on how I felt about AI. While I do see his point, I wanted to keep the reader guessing. As I mentioned in my style paragraph, I wanted to keep the tone suspenseful and hopeful for the reader. However, I considered his words as I was revising my paper. To resolve this issue he had, I decided to make thought-provoking headings. I wanted to take the reader on a journey and added in a little something at the top of some sections of paragraphs to help organize my paper less confusingly. I felt that doing this would subset Connor’s comment. Shaya’s comments were also along the similar lines of when I should mention AI and my thesis. Shaya said my thesis didn’t provide a well-enough argument. I agreed with this note. Before, my thesis was all over the place. It was ineffective and the reader couldn’t tell where I stood with the prompt at hand. To change this, I restructured the whole thing. I decided to be straight-forward and say, “In general, I believe technology and AI in particular, has the overarching goal of improving our lives for the better.”. I hope that this is a well-developed thesis and gets right to the point. Overall, I genuinely appreciated the feedback I received from both Connor and Shaya! Their comments made my paper so much better and can’t thank them enough for their input. I am grateful for these opportunities to converse with other classmates and have another set of eyes look at our literary work.
My goal for this project was to reflect on all the publications, videos, films, etc. I engaged with this past summer semester. I knew this project was coming my way and wanted to make sure this was one of my best pieces! I did this by mentioning past videos and articles I read and wrote about in past projects to this paper. Of them including Her (Jonze), and “Artificial Intelligence in Medicine” by David Luxton to name a few. As I read, listened, and watched new material, I also kept the S.W.A.P. and R.A.I.D.S. methods in the back of my mind. I truly feel like I have mastered this type of analysis through the weeks I have been in this class. The hardest part of this paper was to sum everything up and come up with an educated opinion of where AI is going and what it will shape into the future. I couldn’t just state anything I wanted and needed to support my claims with evidence. That is one thing I will take away from this class and the importance of presenting words to a reader! It all goes back to what makes a successful paper and what that means to a young student like me who is building their writing skills.
I tried to make my essay both engaging and easy to read. I added in a picture at the top, so it wasn’t just sheets of paper with words on it. I also put some section headers in this as well. The ones at the beginning were questions that I wanted the reader to think about as they were moving further along in each paragraph. I wanted to start the paper with how technology is changing our future, to then transitioning to AI itself and the impact it will have on humans and our future. I looked to individuals, publications, videos, etc. to paint a picture and provide that “one-stop shop” feel to this project. My focus was on the medical industry and the algorithms behind AI. I wanted to show the public the potential benefits of utilizing AI for human health, and the benefits of programming AI machines to meet the same goals we have as a world. I hope this essay does a great job of answering the prompt at hand and does a well-thought-out analysis of my thesis. All in all, I hope you enjoy my final project and can’t wait to hear your feedback!
Thanks,
Samantha
Samantha
Dr. Mike Ristich
Project 3: AI as “Liberatory Technology”
8/17/2019
Artificial Intelligence Used for Good
Where is technology going?
Change is inevitable. Some try to avoid this while others embrace it with open arms. The world is changing every day and is constantly shaping our daily lives. Technology is one move that is pulling humanity left and right. Many milestones have been achieved in this area for social good, while also for destructive measures. Environment, homelessness, human trafficking, etc. are all issues we feel passionate about and want to use technology to help solve these issues. On the other hand, there is an initiative to create weapons and robots through the use of technology to be the most powerful nation in the world. Is there a middle ground between utilizing technology for good and bad?
What is AI and its future?
Technology like Artificial intelligence (AI) can be described as the expansion of the human mind. This can be developed into almost anything and act as an interface that will be integrated into society. That might sound scary, but we have seen what possibilities are out there through the use of science fiction movies. The Terminator (Cameron) and Her (Jonze) are perfect examples of how AI can interact with humans. These represent two extremes on the spectrum, one showing the dangerous consequences of such technology, while the other acts like a super-intelligent OS that develops human-like abilities. As mentioned above, the question comes down to, how do we utilize technology for good and find a compromise between these two extremes. In general, I believe technology and AI in particular, has the overarching goal of improving our lives for the better.
One underlying theme AI articles, videos, and other publications have in common is that this technology will change the future of humanity. What is key to notice is that technological advancements in this area could start as soon as 2030. That is only 11 years away. It’s difficult to comprehend this because we don’t know what capacity AI will form into by then. It seems too early and leaves others skeptical of this deadline because we still have a long way to go. Many scientists, professors, scholars, etc. agree AI could be used for good especially in the uses for medicine and poverty rates, but it is important to address the other possibilities AI could shape into. To alleviate some of the concerns of AI and its dangerous consequences, Amy Hall, professor of computer science at the University of Southampton comments, “…how to regulate the AI and robotics industries in a way that is good for humanity.” I believe the use of policies and other safety precautions could ease some of the concerns about the future development of AI. Policies were all nations can get behind and agree with for the betterment and hopeful future of the AI and human integration.
AI for the force of good
AI has the power to make our lives easier and better. I see the most impact in the medical world, with the hopes of AI curing cancer, or acting as a psychological counselor. Developing human-like abilities and emotions were explained more in-depth from the article, “Artificial Intelligence in Medicine”. Author David D. Luxton writes, “(AI agent)…demonstrated with its basic text interface and few hundred lines of computer code that it is easy to reflect the feelings of a person, espouse empathy, and ‘pull in’ a person interacting with it” (4). Her (Jonze) reflects just this when Samantha, the intelligent OS system, mentions that she is programmed with many different personalities and is constantly adjusting her thoughts and words when she is talking with the main character, Theo. The ‘pull in’ element is also true when Theo and Samantha develop something deeper for one another. In this movie, it also shows how Samantha made Theo happy again. At the beginning of the film, he was seen as being unsatisfied with life, until he bought an AI system and that’s when Samantha appeared. She was able to match his feelings and provide him the help he needed to be fulfilled with life again. That is one example of how AI could assist others, mentally and could also expand to physical measures as well. Greg Shannon, chief scientist for the CERT Division at Carnegie Mellon University, touches on the impacts AI could have on the physical outlook of healthy lives. He says,” Life will definitely be better as AI extends lifetimes, from health apps that intelligently ‘nudge’ us to health, to warnings about impending heart/stroke events, to automated health care for the underserved (remote) and those who need extended care (elder care)”. Because of these probable outcomes of AI, I see the benefits of this helping the human race. There are limitless opportunities and possibilities to leverage AI to have people live longer. Even with creating an intelligent OS system like Samantha, we see her as being a friend to Theo, and way for him to express his emotions escape from the real world. That provided real benefits to Theo and can see this having similar impacts in the future if we were to create something like this machine (Samantha) for humans as well. As seen through this paragraph, AI has positive influences on our physical and mental well-being. I do see, however, taking a long time to get to this point in time, but it indicates how people are trying to utilize technology for good.
In addition, AI could help make our lives better if we have the right goals in mind. That is, steering away from using AI for mass destruction and lethal weapons. Machines would be ruthless and provide nations the ammunition to be the most powerful in the world. Simon Biggs, from the University of Edinburgh, explores this idea when he states, “AI will be in routine use to fight wars and kill people, far more effectively than we can currently kill. As societies, we will be less affected by this as we currently are, as we will not be doing the fighting and killing ourselves.” This can be alarming to read, especially since this technology has the capability to end human life as we know it. That is why it is crucial to decide what kind of future we want as a united front. Technology is supposed to open new opportunities to humanity, but it has the ability to wipe out large populations of people. The algorithms behind the program are what will make AI successful. Cathy O’Neil gave a TED Talk, arguing that there should be a clear objective and success criteria when generating algorithms. Data we put into it is what we get out of it. That is a recurring point each scientist, scholar, authors, etc. have put into perspective and paid attention to in their videos and writing. If we do that then success will follow. We will be able to solve some of the world’s most challenging problems. It is all about the alignment with the machines we develop and our goals we have as a world.
Future challenges of AI and how we can solve them:
Privacy, control, and jobs are just a few concerns many people have about AI. People’s liberties are at risk of being compromised. Some jobs will go obsolete, but more roles will open for the future. Development and the maintenance in building these machines will be needed along with new skill sets. To plan for these new outlooks, the education system will play an important role in growing students in this technological world. Structuring future coursework; this would need to incorporate technical skill learnings, like exposing students to code early on. The issue of privacy is one area everyone is talking about. AI would require lot of information to flow through a system, but is not something everyone would like to partake in. Privacy is not something people would like to give up, but as Danil Mikhailov, Head of Data at Welcome Trust, says, “personal data for social-good projects, like health care, taking in both the risks of acting – such as effects on privacy – and the opportunity costs of not acting. It is a fact that lives are lost currently in health systems across the world that could be saved even with today’s technology let alone that of 2030.” One set of words that struck meaning was “opportunity costs of not acting”. This is an effective point to make and is something to consider as we are paving our way into the future of AI. Similarly, Daniel Obam, a technology policy advisor, adds, “Using AI, authorities will be able to prevent crime before it happens. Cybersecurity needs to be at the forefront to prevent unscrupulous individuals from using AI to perpetrate harm or evil on the human race.”. Obam brings up a solution to the number of jobs available to the public. As some jobs will go away in the future, new jobs will also be created, especially for roles in Cybersecurity and Big Data for starters. Obam adds a great point when he mentions that AI could also stop crime, even before it happens. This is appealing to everyone and could be something people could stand behind with the use of AI.
Altogether, there are many reasons to agree that AI can be used for good and for the betterment of humanity. In order to do this, it will take time and hard work to achieve this. Also, the governing of how this is built is another key area many folks are concerned about for the future. AI is inevitable, but if we, as people, utilize it for social good, vs. power, then we are in good hands. To achieve this, governments will need to align on how to pursue with new AI interfaces and what areas is it OK to develop them in. I hope that AI will save lives and align to our goals in the end and will be keeping a close eye on what we do as 2030 readily approaches.
Works Cited:
Anderson, Janna, et al. “2. Solutions to Address AI's Anticipated Negative Impacts.” Pew Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech, Pew Research Center, 10 Dec. 2018, https://www.pewinternet.org/2018/12/10/solutions-to-address-ais-anticipated-negative-impacts/.
Her. Directed by Spike Jonze, performances by Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams, and
Mara Rooney, Warner Brothers, 2013.
O'Neil, Cathy. “Do Algorithms Perpetuate Human Bias?” TED Radio Hour, season 1, episode
Can We Trust The Numbers?, NPR, 26 Jan. 2018.
Luxton, David D. “Artificial Intelligence in Medicine .” pp. 1–10. Elsevier, 2013,
elsevier.com/aiim
Rainie, Lee and Janna Anderson. “The Future of Jobs and Jobs Training.” Pew Research Center, http://www.pewinternet.org/2017/05/03/the-future-of-jobs-and-jobs-training/ . Accessed 25 May 2017.
The Terminator. Directed by James Cameron, performances by Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton, Warner Brothers, 1984.