Dear Editor:
Each day I’m hearing about artificial intelligence (AI). The more hear about it the more worried I become.
Since the spring our newly elected government is seemingly full bore on this, including naming a minister of it (Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation Evan Solomon) who I only know as a somewhat unable hold job in news reporting.
What I’m hearing is that old familiar song that the greater good outweighs any downside. Based on past experiences, that tune terrifies me.
I have heard that in some cases, AI appears to have removed some uncertainty in surgery, improving doctors’ decisions for better outcomes. But in other examples, a “smart” car could kill people in a collision. Another negative example is “productivity,” which should be raising alarms because a large corporation in the U.S. (Amazon) has laid off 14,000 and boasted the move was in part due to improvements in AI.
My wife and I used to watch Person of Interest, a very sci-fi TV show about an ex CIA operative who surveilled people all over the world from a computer monitor using facial recognition. Well today, its not science fiction, but again some politicians say its use is for the greater good. In fact, Europe has used this for years and has had problems with mistaken identity, which can become a permanent issue for the falsely accused.
I am afraid that nobody is listening.
Another idea that has been floated is a push for global currency, which so far, thank God, people and governments in the west are not embracing. But what happens when our prime minister gains a majority, are we going be bulldozed to this?
Doak McCraney,
Guelph