Page 56 - Monocle Quarterly Journal Vol 3 Issue 2 Spring

MONOCLE QUARTERLY JOURNAL | DEEP LEARNING
cannot be ignored as a massively significant social and economic determinant of our future existence. And other than ignoring the issue or underplaying the scale at which these technologies will transform our current way of working and being, very few forward-looking
social interaction, those things were unique to humans and couldn’t be replicated by machines.” But Bernanke is not entirely correct. For whilst in recent years very many useful AI applications have been developed – and it is highly likely that repetitive and labour-intensive industries will be the first to experience large-scale disruption – in truth, artificial intelligence is still very far from displaying anything approaching human imagination, creativity, social interaction, or any of the other particular human traits that Bernanke invokes. Far more simplistically, AI is more likely to widen the gap between the rich and the poor, since it is the low-skilled jobs that will disappear first.
AI still struggles to grasp the many complexities that exist in the most human of all endowments – language and communication. Whilst toddlers have a natural affinity for language, nascent AI systems still have great difficulty in understanding even text-based statements, not to mention verbal communications and the nuances that exist within the context of these utterances, such as tone, volume and pace. Thus, whilst many truck drivers in America may in the near future be in danger of losing their jobs, work that necessitates high levels of interpersonal interactions – that rely on the subtleties and nuances of language and a certain degree of emotional intelligence – seem to be safe for at least the foreseeable future. 
AI still struggles to grasp the many complexities that
exist in the most human of all endowments – language and
communication.
contingency plans have been put in place. Many economists disregard the more dystopian prophecies that involve the widespread decimation of workforces through automation, citing the Industrial Revolution as a case where such a mechanised revolution did not, as predicted, cause the complete collapse of society. But Yang, along with many industry experts, is convinced that this time it is different.
One such expert, who believes that the AI revolution is indeed a totally different scenario, is the former two- term Chair of the Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke. In an interview with The New York Times, Bernanke says, “You have to recognise realistically that AI is qualitatively different from an internal combustion engine in that it was always the case that human imagination, creativity,
3.2 THE BLACK BOX PROBLEM
In Ancient Greece, the most respected source of advice was the Oracle of Delphi, or the Pythia – the priestess of Apollo. She could be found perched on a tripod seat in the Temple of Apollo in Delphi, which was built around a sacred spring and considered to literally be the centre of the world. Seated above a fissure from which the divine pneuma or spirit was said to emanate, and
gazing into a dish of water from the spring, she would receive enquirers who believed that the messages she communicated came directly from the gods. Her advice was reserved for only the most important questions, and once given it was accepted without reproach and followed without question. No military attack was planned, no political decision passed, no investment made, and no
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