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Lets use this article as a reality check for what AI, at least in it's commercial form is and is not. This article highlights Amazon's use of HUMAN content analysis for it's "personal assistant" devices. The privacy concerns here of course are justified. theblaze.com/news/amazon-ad…
Plenty of people will highlight the privacy aspect, but these devices hold a fascination for people because they appear magical and "movie-like" in what they do. In reality they aren't quite what they appear to be.
In truth there is very little actual AI (artificial intelligence) going on here. What is there is is combined with traditional computer algorithms, albeit complex ones combined with as the article shows you, manual human data processing.
In fact most commercial AI is over-hyped crap. Not because it doesn't hold promise but because it's in it's infancy and the amount of hardware resources it requires is considerable. Which is why behind the scenes there is a lot of plain old code running along with humans working.
Though it might rub some people the wrong way who like to dream, it isn't necessarily a given that anything government has is that much better. Consider that Amazon has vast resources, and government contracts, and yet they are forced to use humans to process this information.
Amazon also has a very big profit motive to make their devices seem as magical as they can make them. Even if they have to lie to you about what tech they have access to and use. If it exists it's likely they use it and yet we have these human assets processing date.
I could easily have to eat these words if some remarkable government disclosure happens at some point. What I am trying to say is that people's fascination with these devices which has led to them (perhaps against their better judgement) allow them in their homes is misplaced.
They aren't Robby the Robot, they aren't a self aware Skynet (pick your Hollywood reference) they have fallible and sometimes biased human intent and actions behind them.
My hope is, that as we all worry about the effects of automation on society going forward that we consider that maybe it isn't always appropriate to use it and that it is easy to be convinced to use something because of it's seemingly magical nature, when it isn't magical at all.
We the people gave government the most power we have ever given to government in the form of the FISA court, only to see it abused in exactly the way many civil Libertarians said it would be. We were duped by emotion (namely fear) to let it happen.
I consider those people out there who were persuaded to buy these devices to have been duped using similar human frailties. The result is essentially the same. Arguably a private company doesn't have the power government does unless of course they ally themselves with government.
We all know that Amazon has done that, not just through government contracts but ideologically through the left-leaning political culture they cultivate among their employees and leadership.
Our culture has become one so ingrained with media that we expect SVU to be investigating crimes, CSI to be analyzing the evidence and the cast from your favorite legal drama to be trying the case. Those expectations have been an issue in real life.
They have led us to trust people we shouldn't, not use our discernment and not do critical thinking. We want our government to be set it and forget it just like our washing machine and now we have a problem.
For those who have these devices, they sold you the Kree Supreme Intelligence and what you got is some very expensive experimental tech, and "Stephan" the tech employee who doesn't like your politics, thinks you are a racist and might just get off on hearing what you say in bed.
There is a disadvantages to having a portion of your life in "the cloud" and this one of them.
