麻豆社

Good morning. Having supper with one of my grandsons not long ago he outlined for me some of the possibilities of Chatbot. Then, to prove the point, his bot quickly wrote a Thought for the Day, which we listened to round the table. Well, it was passable. Then I thought to myself, suppose it now gathers in from previous broadcasts my characteristic turns of phrase, tone of voice and favourite quotations from the poets and then produced a Thought, how will people know it isn鈥檛 me? The implications of this technology for politics, examinations and business is indeed frightening. Even so I was surprised by the letter this week from 1000 people at the cutting edge in the field calling for a moratorium on developing this technology.

One thing is certain, Artificial Intelligence cannot be dis-invented. In fact the letter did not ask for a halt but a pause in the development of new models with research refocused on making today鈥檚 systems more 鈥渁ccurate, safe, interpretable, transparent, robust, aligned, trustworthy, and loyal鈥�. I was particularly interested in those last words-trustworthy and loyal鈥� These are human qualities and they are not just about intelligence but concern moral judgement.

In the Hebrew scriptures, as well as setting before us a moral way of life, we are urged to have wisdom in the way we apply our principles in day by day living. Moral discernment, right judgement, wisdom are major themes, and King Solomon was particularly commended because when he became king he did not ask for conquests or riches, but the ability to make wise decisions. It is this quality which we need bring to chatbots. So far as I know this is not something which can be generated by A1 itself, but is what we bring to it and use to shape its purpose. In the end we are in control. In that far seeing 1968 film 2001: a space odyssey, there is a haunting scene where the computers in the spacecraft appear to have taken over. Then the humans threaten to turn them off, and despite the pleadings of the computers this is what they do. Humans re-asserted their control.

Chatbots are clearly going to radically change so much in our lives, no doubt for good but also with frightening possibilities. Sadly, in so many areas we have shown ourselves to be anything but wise. Yet however flawed we are, it is still we who have the gift and the responsibility for moral discernment and right judgement; for wisdom.

Show less