Critique of AI Benefits

This was posted in a group:

AI Community @ CU Welsh Government has launched a new plan to embed the benefits of AI in various sectors and shape its influence to improve the lives of people across Wales - link to plan included in the following article:  https://businesswales.gov.wales/news-and-blog/new-plan-embed-benefits-ai-across-wales

This was my response:

The problem is, AI has become so broad in meaning as to become meaningless, so that the same sense can be construed from the term “algorithm”, ie computers. There are applications where “algorithms” are incredibly useful, but a wholesale “let’s adopt AI” is damaging because it ignores the harms of generative AI and Large Language Models, eg a list from Emma Barnes:

AI is

• an environmental catastrophe
• based on stolen content
• that harms the viability of creators livelihoods
• that doesn’t work very well
• that harms a generation’s ability to learn
• that companies use to eliminate people costs
• and is financed in such a way that it is going to damage the global economy in the biggest stock market failure for years.

In words attributed to Laurie Anderson “If you think technology will solve your problems, you don’t understand technology and you don’t understand your problems“.

Let‘s invest in Human Intelligence and campaign for universal free education, like in the good old days.