Debunking Common Myths Surrounding Artificial Intelligence (AI) - Cor Scheepers - Consultant @ pm.ideas
The buzz around generative AI (e.g. ChatGPT) can cause a mix of excitement and scepticism. You are not alone. Two years ago, most people had not heard of generative AI, but now it is everywhere. Shortly after its release ChatGPT became the fastest growing app in history. There is a lot of hype, confusion and even fear around it. This ranges from enthusiastic advocates announcing that it is going to solve the world’s problems to doom-mongers predicting that it will make millions of people redundant or even spell the end of human creativity.
This article will cover the five most common misconceptions on generative AI and how to separate fact from fiction.
Myth No. 1 – Generative AI is Intelligent
It is impressive on how it handles language and stores information, but does it actually think like us? No, it does not. It does not possess reasoning, emotional intelligence or true creativity capabilities. Generative AI, like ChatGPT, mimics certain qualities of natural intelligence, specifically the ability to process, interpret, and create language. Natural (human or animal) intelligence has many facets, like reasoning, abstract thought, emotional intelligence, intuition, memory, creativity, and communication. While generative AI excels in communication and memory, it only touches on those other aspects. When ChatGPT or another large language model (LLM) creates output, it follows probability rules derived that it learns during its training. Its “thought processes” are far more limited and less sophisticated than ours. Is this real intelligence? No, it is called “artificial” intelligence for a reason. It can do amazing things, but it is still just an algorithm – albeit a very complex one!
Myth No. 2 – Generative AI will replace Human Creativity
While AI can write a story or sketch a drawing, it lacks the emotional depth and original insight that human artists bring to their creations. Generative AI does not really have new ideas in the same way that humans do. Its creativity is only informed by data rather than by feelings, emotions, original thoughts, and personal experience of the world. A common reaction of humans to AI-generated content is that it is bland and lacking in humanity. While generative AI can assist and enhance creative processes, it is unlikely to completely replace human creativity. It can serve as a tool, enabling human artists to explore new ideas and possibilities. Rest assured. Human creatives have nothing to fear from generative AI. While it can produce a formulaic novel or generic picture quickly, it is far from creating art that inspires and makes us think.
Myth No. 3 – Generative AI only creates Words and Pictures
To many people generative AI includes ChatGPT, that generates words, and Dall-E 2, that can create pictures. While these are the most well-known use cases, they are just the tip of the iceberg of what AI can do today. Generative AI is also making strides in creating music, voice , and even video. It has also led to medical innovations like new immunotherapy treatment for cancer. It can also design blueprints for anything from buildings to new devices. When combined with technology such as 3D printing and automated construction robots, it can create physical objects that exist in the real world.
Myth No. 4 – Generative AI does not need any Human Input
Despite advances, generative AI is not set to ‘go it alone.’ We may think that everything is fully automated and that humans are not necessary. But this is far from the truth. Generative AI makes mistakes. Sometimes hilarious, sometimes critical. It also just plain makes stuff up – a phenomenon known as hallucination. For any critical use case, it is essential to involve human oversight for fact-checking and error correction. Human input is also necessary at every step of the process to ensure that AI is being used in a way that is fair, ethical, and responsible. This is particularly important when AI is put to work in ways that can affect human lives, for example when making decisions in the fields of healthcare, finance, human resources, or law enforcement. While generative AI can be an extremely powerful and useful tool, it is nowhere near being good enough to fully replace human judgement and expertise.
Myth No. 5 – Generative AI is New
It may seem like generative AI burst into the world with the arrival of ChatGPT in late 2022, but that was really just when it hit the mainstream. We have actually been on the path for it for decades. People have been using AI to create things – including text, pictures, and music – for far longer. The first experiments with AI chatbots took place in the 1960s, with programs like Eliza that tried to hold human-like conversations. Early examples of AI-generated music emerged in the 1970s, like David Cope’s Experiments in Musical Intelligence, which aimed to mimic the style of famous composers. AI image generators first appeared in the 1990s, such as AARON, created by artist Harold Cohen. What has changed recently is the text accessibility, thanks to better hardware and smarter algorithms. This is making what was once a niche now mainstream. We have reached the stage where a combination of factors, including availability of processing power and computer memory, cloud computing and advances in deep learning have made generative AI available to everyone. Rather than needing expensive computers that were previously available to big companies and universities, we all carry smartphones that can hook up to massively powerful data centres in the cloud, where the computing takes place. Generative AI is best seen as a convergence of many technologies that have all matured at this point in time to kickstart the revolution rather than one breakthrough invention.
Conclusion
Generative AI represents a significant advancement in technology, providing a versatile and powerful tool that can augment human creativity and productivity across various fields. However, it is crucial to recognize that, fundamentally, it is still a tool—an incredibly sophisticated one, but a tool, nonetheless. While it has the potential to enhance our capabilities, streamline processes, and unlock new possibilities, the effective utilization of Generative AI demands careful and thoughtful management.
