[AbhisheKulkarni]

I think about it in simple terms - do I need an assistant, no. Do I want an assistant - no.

However, this brings up the most important question - do I want to interact with an AI assistant? The answer is a BIG NO. But I do not have any control over it.

If I call someone and they have enabled assistant, will the AI let me override it?

If I sit in an AI controlled car and want to stop on the side of the road for a reason that a human might deem necessary, will the AI allow for it?

And if we start reasoning this way, it will become apparent in almost every aspect of an AI-human decision making overlap that any AI device/service has to be programmed with a basic switch - it must allow itself to be overridden by it's owner/admin/somebody who has the control right.

Otherwise, it's just going to be a struggle for control. That's how I perceive AI of the future - a struggle for control.

And personally speaking, I feel that AI is just not required for a human being to have a satisfying fun life. I'd rather live without it.

[alpha1]

Originally Posted by AbhisheKulkarni

I feel that AI is just not required for a human being to have a satisfying fun life. I'd rather live without it.

Careful, careful with that statement.

Most of the modern stuff in our lives (including the ubiquitous smartphone) falls into this category - remember that the demand is "generated" initially and by the time the next generation comes it becomes a basic need.

I can say the same thing about industrialization - did we really have a shortage of manpower that time? Really?

Or even agriculture. (Shortage of food among the hunter gatherer societies? Check it out)

[abhi7013]

Here's a look at what the new google maps would look like:-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Xdn8YF0xdg

Pretty useful in a developed county like the US. How would it work in a country like India where the city landscape changes every other week with new constructions and demolitions? Maybe not so frequent but then they would require a team on the ground who constantly monitor and update the system.

Regarding our privacy and how sensitive we are to our information, I think it is best to forget about any such things the moment you buy a smartphone. It's actually a joke to expect your data not to be shared at all. The moment you are connected to the net, data security (if I can call that) is a joke. As someone said, it would help if we are shown with details of what exact data will be collected, if we are allowed to decline certain aspects to be shared, and how the declining would affect the working of some of our apps.

PS: Similar to others experiences posted here, am unable to find the assistant icon on the phone..

[Slick]

AI is here, we cannot avoid it.
I would like its influence/usage to be at a minimum in my life but do I have a say?
I would not even know if I was dealing with a human or an AI.


I am already troubled by the overwhelming amount of false propaganda that I see on social media. It has become a tool to influence elections across countries.


You add AI to the mix and it's a disaster waiting to happen.

Humans are playing with fire and sooner or later there will be consequences.


- Slick

[joe1980]

Originally Posted by AbhisheKulkarni

And personally speaking, I feel that AI is just not required for a human being to have a satisfying fun life. I'd rather live without it.

It is inevitable that we will reach a point where the AI does not want us humans to be living with them! Sadly this is a reality waiting to happen!

[T1000]

Google Assistant, Will it work in India?
Indians didn't accept automated voice solutions like voice mails & answering machines, both are widely used in the US.
How many of us press '9' in a IVR call and wish to talk to a human?

Will a salon guy accept an appointment from a machine or wish to confirm it with a human?

Technology vs Human behavior, Will be interesting to watch who wins.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Secondly, We all get automated spam calls from businesses.
For a change, using google assistant, consumers can call 20 travel agents and ask for the best price.
Think, 100 consumers trying to call 20 agents,.

Note: Outgoing calls are free(unlimited) in India

Its time to get back
Cheers

[WhiteHorse]

We've been seeing it coming. Google has been upping the game for a while now with Assistant and AI being integrated into most of their applications.

Another pertinent presentation from Google IO 2018 was the progress Google made on Waymo their self-driving cars. Google claims to have already logged in 5 million miles of 'real-world experience' data based on which their cars can detect and predict the behavior of roads users around the car. Now if a Google self-driving car can start testing in India and can safely drive a km on real Indian roads, then we can say they've made it!

[AbhisheKulkarni]

Originally Posted by alpha1

Most of the modern stuff in our lives (including the ubiquitous smartphone) falls into this category - remember that the demand is "generated" initially and by the time the next generation comes it becomes a basic need.

I can say the same thing about industrialization - did we really have a shortage of manpower that time? Really?

Or even agriculture. (Shortage of food among the hunter gatherer societies? Check it out)

The analogies that you have shared regarding industrialization or agriculture are not suitably relevant.

The pertinent questions here are whether:
1. A substitute intelligence is essential for a human being to get through his/her life.
2. What are the trade offs of such an entity getting involved with a human?
3. Will that alliance be complementary or will it become a struggle for control, eventually?
4. Would the human being in question lose the ability to perform those tasks/functions if the AI entity is unavailable? In short a morbid dependency on the AI entity.
5. If the AI entity is sufficiently self-aware, is there a need for humans to learn? (think about the whole school system etc.)
6. If the AI is really a self-aware AI - by which it means that it has passed the Turing Test - why would it want to assist human beings? Wouldn't a self-aware AI want to further it's own aspirations/agenda and it's version of it's future?

In short, we should not get carried away just because some companies are showing us what "they" think our future should be. We should assess whether we really want to be a part of that future.

Companies like Google are working on AI because that is their business road-map - that's the next big thing for them. Whether or not we should let them force that down our throat, is a question that each one of us needs to ask ourselves.

And coming back to the topic of this thread, I for one would never be comfortable knowing that some AI-app is present on my phone, and is consuming/collating god-only-knows what kind of information! This might be the reason to dump Google-powered phones, in my opinion, and switch to Apple.

[roy_libran]

I think there is a point where we need to take a hard look, and say -

"This is too much. This is too much technology, than what I need or want around me. I think we have all now reached that point.
If at all we want to leave behind a liveable world for our children and for theirs, this is where we all need to draw a line.

We will NOT help in creating the very technology and machines that will outlive us and surpass us. We will NOT help in maturing or refining the technology that makes us redundant. We will have to stand up and say NO, to the relentless corporate greed that is driving the ascent of these technologies. We will GO BACK a little bit more, to that local shopkeeper, to our friends' homes, to the playgrounds, to nature, and try to be a little more like what nature had designed us for.

And this, needs to start happening individually. I deleted my FB account last year and life has already been a lot better and lower stress. I might do that with my Google account too. I am not going to handover my life to these companies, at least not while I live."

[joe1980]

Originally Posted by AbhisheKulkarni

In short, we should not get carried away just because some companies are showing us what "they" think our future should be. We should assess whether we really want to be a part of that future.

Companies like Google are working on AI because that is their business road-map - that's the next big thing for them. Whether or not we should let them force that down our throat, is a question that each one of us needs to ask ourselves.

And coming back to the topic of this thread, I for one would never be comfortable knowing that some AI-app is present on my phone, and is consuming/collating god-only-knows what kind of information! This might be the reason to dump Google-powered phones, in my opinion, and switch to Apple.

Companies like Google believe that AI assisted technology could end up in cost savings for the mundane tasks that we do today. Businesses are going to like that because there is this notion of "saving cost & time" associated with this technology. So inevitably, even if you do not let Google force that down your throat, you somehow or the other will have some touchpoint with some AI assisted technology in the near future for some of your daily chores!

It would be childish to say that you dump Google for Apple, but just think about this - FAMGA (Facebook, Apple, Microsoft, Google, Amazon) knows about the potential of AI and the potential revenues it could generate. They are already working on some even more interesting AI projects that demands even more data from you. When Google could do this, I see the rest of the pack will try to outrun what Google showcased.

The only thing that could help us keep our information secure are the regulations and what politics has got to say!

[alpha1]

Originally Posted by AbhisheKulkarni

The analogies that you have shared regarding industrialization or agriculture are not suitably relevant.

The pertinent questions here are whether ...

In short, we should not get carried away just because some companies are showing us what "they" think our future should be. We should assess whether we really want to be a part of that future.

It is relevant, because observing how a trend catches on historically allows you to forecast a new trend's life / death. There would've been a lot of people, "luddites", in the past, at every stage asking similar question about the touted benefits of newfangled technology - but look where the world is right now compared to stone age.

I am afraid that whatever our personal preferences and opinions may be, AI is here to stay and propagate ... till it reaches the point no.6 you have mentioned - and that is when human beings lose their relevance in the world.

Also, what Joe writes below is how technological trends catch on and become a mainstream "necessity". We can't stop it.

Originally Posted by joe1980

Companies like Google believe that AI assisted technology could end up in cost savings for the mundane tasks that we do today. Businesses are going to like that because there is this notion of "saving cost & time" associated with this technology. So inevitably, even if you do not let Google force that down your throat, you somehow or the other will have some touchpoint with some AI assisted technology in the near future for some of your daily chores!

Originally Posted by roy_libran

I think there is a point where we need to take a hard look, and say -

This is too much. This is too much technology, than what I need or want around me. I think we have all now reached that point.
If at all we want to leave behind a liveable world for our children and for theirs, this is where we all need to draw a line.

The problem with this approach is the society we live in. Unless we become a hermit, we have to interact with someone or the other to get things that we "need". The society will compel you to stay abreast with the trends and fads.

Or are you proposing "The Village" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Village_(2004_film) way?

[AbhisheKulkarni]

Originally Posted by joe1980

Companies like Google believe that AI assisted technology could end up in cost savings for the mundane tasks that we do today. Businesses are going to like that because there is this notion of "saving cost & time" associated with this technology. So inevitably, even if you do not let Google force that down your throat, you somehow or the other will have some touchpoint with some AI assisted technology in the near future for some of your daily chores!

It was a similar scenario with Facebook once upon a time. But there are many people now who have either chosen to not join the platform, or have deleted their profiles.

Some workarounds may get developed over time for those who wish to not interact with the AI tech.

Originally Posted by joe1980

It would be childish to say that you dump Google for Apple, but just think about this - FAMGA (Facebook, Apple, Microsoft, Google, Amazon) knows about the potential of AI and the potential revenues it could generate. They are already working on some even more interesting AI projects that demands even more data from you. When Google could do this, I see the rest of the pack will try to outrun what Google showcased.

The only thing that could help us keep our information secure are the regulations and what politics has got to say!

I think there is more to this than meets the eye.

Although all the companies that you mentioned may be working on developing AI tech for their business-specific use-cases, I feel Google has the most to gain from a self-aware AI.

With Search, Maps, Android, Email, Advertising & now Autonomous Driving SW - they are/would be hooked into the lives of more people than any of the other companies.

They might as well name the AI tech as "Skynet"!

[roy_libran]

Originally Posted by alpha1

The problem with this approach is the society we live in. Unless we become a hermit, we have to interact with someone or the other to get things that we "need". The society will compel you to stay abreast with the trends and fads.

Or are you proposing "The Village" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Village_(2004_film) way?

No, nothing as extreme. Anything as extreme would only succeed in having a temporary and local and adverse effect, and wouldn't accomplish much of anything.


I am talking more about inculcating a mind-set of increasingly refusing as much of the destructive technology as you can recognize at any given point in time, and trying to impart this concept to one's children and friends, as much as they are able to understand and absorb. It isn't just limited to AI; there's a lot more in Tech terms that is destroying this planet, nature and it's various components.

Regarding your point about becoming a hermit, my personal experience was just the opposite. After I deleted my FB account, and reduced my presence in a few other social media groups, I found myself having a lot more face to face interactions with people to somehow compensate for the diminished social touch-points, than I used to earlier. So much so, that within a space of 7-8 months, most people in my residential complex now know me and frequently chat with me. Earlier this was just limited to people who used to live in my block and on my particular floor. Moreover, I was recently approached by some members of the elders group in the complex, requesting me to run for the association elections, telling me that I have quite a positive image going for me and they needed younger people to step up. Compare this with 6-8 months ago, when hardly anyone knew me. Far from a hermit, right?

The point I am trying to make is - sometimes, when we are engulfed and entrapped inch-by-inch by technology, it is extremely difficult to fathom what life would be like if cut off from such technology. However, it is a dependence that we have only accepted over the last 15-20 years, so can't we shun at least the bad parts now?

This AI thing is going to be defined by the choices that we (individually) as a generation (or three), are going to make. If we accept it as inevitable and unavoidable, we are setting our kind up for failure.

'Motivation' is an important component of any economic, cultural or scientific process - what would AI do to individual motivation, in the absence of anything meaningful to do, and one's inherent inferiority in thought process and ability over the machines? Would humans survive lack of motivation?

Someone on this thread referred to FAMGA - I'm now already beginning to think how I can move all my meaningless existence out of their ecosystem, and back to a situation where solely I have control over it. A few things I can immediately think of-

• Go back to Open Source OS on all my machines where I get full control of what's happening
• Ditch Android/Apple phones and go back to a basic phone
• move out all my photos and videos from cloud servers
• Move out all my backups from cloud
• Stop using streaming services that are silently building a profile of my tastes and preferences
• Avoid using services which mandate Google/FB/Microsoft authentication, and delete accounts where I already have those
• Repair and Reuse my devices, cars etc. a lot more going forward - than buying new
• Stop pestering employers for salary hikes - it's not something that can go on forever - the level of economic activity has to reduce
• etc. etc.

After all, one must challenge one self continuously, right? Or am I mentally challenged now?

[Rajiv0909]

In my view, it's not very difficult to tackle things like privacy, machine age or mental well being in AI era :

1. Data Privacy : After all these are machines, create multiple IDs, randomly switch them, confuse or mislead the machines. Like every dislike, search for motorcycles when you like cars. Share BJP and Congress Memes at the same time and vote for AAP. After all, there's a reason why it's called "Artificial" Intelligence.

2. Machines taking over ? Well let them, they have been in some shape and form. This is just another form of industrial revolution. Some of us would need to retool ourselves to make a living, others with deeper pockets can invest in digital companies and earn from it

3. Mental Well being in digital era: Switch off and 'Live to Drive'

[AVL500]

As much as I would like to be amused with all this advancement in technology I am not really able to do so and for the following reason. Majority of the human population, at least in service industry is engaged in doing repetitive and scripted tasks which can be very easily taken over by the machines which will only get smarter and more capable based on this AI tech. Machines replacing humans in call centers/service desks, Banks, restaurants etc. etc. and god knows where not. We are already staring at an employment crisis worldwide. These so called repetitive jobs are the only source of employment for this sea of human population we have and once these AI assisted machines take over, how do the governments world over plan to keep their citizens gainfully employed. I know this is not happening tomorrow but the day isn’t far either ! And we all know when humans are left jobless and sitting idle, they only create problems for each other. The technology though is expected to make our lives better and easier but when I look at the bigger picture I don’t really see it helping the human race for better, or maybe I am not able look at the bigger picture properly.

And hence I voted for second option .