AI - savior or demon?

I spend a lot of time contemplating and exploring AI (artificial intelligence).  I've recently
gotten into Alexa and Google Assistant.  I find it fun, but also with some serious consequences.  I constantly game the algorithms in my news feeds and purposely will click on things to throw off AI trackers. i use duck-duck go for searching, and VPN's with changing locations to throw off harvesters and trackers.  

 But it's a losing game.  AI is now so ubiquitous and prevalent in our everyday lives that humans don't stand a chance. 

Every location (and almost every movement), every transaction, every search, every conversation and email, every text/twitter/instagram/FB posting is part of your DNA. 

 We are fast becoming cyborgs. Elon Musk says we already are.   Our digital selves (and decades of tracking/recordings of each of us) is way bigger than our physical selves. Here's a great conversation about AI by Elon Musk and Jack Ma:




In a NYT article about Silicon Valley's 'joda'.,  the statement that lines of code (also known as algorithms = AI) were generating their own algorithms incomprehensible by human beings!!  WAIT A MINUTE!  let me repeat that:  a computer programmed by humans is generating lines of code that humans cannot decipher.  Well, then we are already a bridge too far.  It reminds me of nanotechnology where we can make the nano (bots, chemicals, ++) but we have no idea how to identify or measure nano things - so we unleashed them into a world without knowing what they are doing.

 The precautionary principle (or precautionary approach) generally defines actions on issues considered to be uncertain, for instance applied in assessing risk management.[1] The principle is used by policy makers to justify discretionary decisions in situations where there is the possibility of harm from making a certain decision (e.g. taking a particular course of action) when extensive scientific knowledge on the matter is lacking. The principle implies that there is a social responsibility to protect the public from exposure to harm, when scientific investigation has found a plausible risk. 

The EU, China (sort of) and many other countries adhere to this principle - but not the USA.  We are still into 'may the best rat win' principle. 

 I'm lucky to live in California, where we have enacted the same 'right to be forgotten, right to not be tracked, right to privacy' that European countries follow.  Hopefully the rest of the states will follow.  Until FANG (facebook, apple, netflix, google) retracts their fangs and gets out of their own 'profit at all costs' greed, we will continue to get more cyborgized. 

Savior
There are some very cool advantages to AI.  For youngsters and elders it's a godsend.  Having the whole world at your fingertips without leaving the room is empowering.  Having accurate reminders, wayfinding, health tracking, autonomous transportation, in-home deliveries (ok - not so cool for kids :-) are also beneficial. 
 
 Demon
And then there's the dark side of AI.  It's  been weaponized and will become even more so.  Drone strikes are just the beginning.  The bot that took down Iran's centrifuges by years of searching for an entry point - and finally found one thru PLC (programmed logic controllers) has been copied and used to wreck global havoc.  Power outages, finding weak spots within  airline reservations systems, government & corporate databases, banks, hospitals have all been the victim of AI's far reach by bad actors. Staying vigilant only goes so far.  Government regulators and our education systems are terribly lacking in adapting to these new realities.


 But they're slowly coming around, and of course AI is racing ahead.  it's our ultimate cat-mouse game.  We need to get smarter about 'where's our cheese'! 


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