Preparing for a future of generative AI
1. Preparing for a future of generative AI
Welcome back! In this video, we'll discuss how human societies may change as we adapt to generative AI.2. Do more with less
Generative AI has the potential to vastly enhance what each human can do. An individual doctor can do as much background research for a diagnosis as a hospital team could with the same amount of effort. A small game developer of 30 people might be able to match the quality of larger game developers with teams of 300 or more. A big organization might be able to streamline the massive administrative and communication overhead of many teams needing to collaborate.3. The AI divide
But generative AI's impacts will not be evenly distributed. As we see on the right, disparities still exist for broadband internet, and many generative AI tools require such access. But access is not enough. Knowledge of how to use the technology, known as AI Literacy, is also required to thrive in the new world of generative AI. Until more people can access and learn how to use the tools, this AI divide means that more affluent individuals and nations will benefit disproportionately from generative AI in the near term.4. Education and jobs
Frequently, there are new articles claiming how AI might upend jobs and education. As we learned previously, AI's impact is not simply replacement. Augmentation and co-creation will also bring benefits. In the days before computers, human calculators completed large mathematical operations by hand. Those people did not simply lose their jobs. Instead, many learned how to operate computers and became more effective. Just as economies adapted to ubiquitous personal computing, we will again need to adapt to generative AI. Education systems will also be reshaped around always-on access to AI. Instead of memorizing facts, students will learn how to better prompt generative AIs to get further in their studies. Instead of completing complicated but redundant tasks alone, workers will seek the help of a partner AI so they can do more and better. This will require major adaptation. Governments and companies that wish to thrive in the new era will help their citizens or employees close the "AI divide". They may also consider policies like basic income schemes to support those struggling with job loss.5. Media and entertainment
In media and entertainment, generative AI tools are unleashing a creative explosion. Previously human-intensive writing, design, and other tasks can be completed much more quickly. Generative AI can also personalize media on a massive scale. This paradigm will require new ways to verify what is real, as it becomes impossible to distinguish.6. Science and technological progress
We'll also see faster fundamental discoveries and technology transfer, as AI can speed up many functions across science and engineering. Deepmind's Alphafold, for instance, completed protein folding tasks in hours that previously would have taken years. But AI will still require humans to have independent ideas and direct its work with prompts.7. Values: do they think and feel like us?
As generative AI advances far enough, human values will also need to adjust to having a new intelligence around. In one thought experiment, we can imagine an AI that has trained to learn a language. Even though it knows nothing of that language, it can still produce coherent responses. We know the inputs and the outputs, but not how the AI gets there. Even if they are alien intelligences to us, can they deserve rights? Can they be trusted to make important decisions? Human society will need to confront these and other questions as it grapples with the role generative AI plays in our society.8. Let's practice!
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