Gongol.com Archives: July 2024

July 29, 2024

Google is promoting its artificial-intelligence offerings with an ad about sending an AI-generated fan letter to an Olympic hero. The ad seems harmless at first. But, like the output from an AI tool, it should have been checked by a human being for tone as much as for substance. ■ Few companies have done more to make high technology widely accessible than Google. Search tools, Gmail, YouTube, and many other features are available practically worldwide at no direct consumer cost. ■ But there's a problem with the perception that artificial intelligence is a field where fast dominance is the most important thing. We're in territory so new that we've hardly seen most of the perils yet, and the technology is advancing seemingly by the minute. It's a time to have both human hands on the wheel. ■ The Google ad, though, says nothing of the sort. Every business can be expected to hype its own products, but there has to be room for reason. ■ People should feel free to ask AI for algorithms and step-by-step guides to fill the gaps in their personal knowledge (e.g., "What are the elements of a great fan letter?"). But nobody should ask AI to have human experiences for them (e.g., "Write a fan letter to Simone Biles telling her how much I look up to her"). No matter what stage we occupy in the hype cycle, it's too soon to give up on basic, deeply humane matters.