Our Future Looks Fake
My friend was worried about AI based on reports on various media, so I thought we’d run through some of its capabilities for fun.
First, I asked it to write a poem about my godson who is a devout skateboarder.
” In a world of concrete waves and adrenaline’s call,
There lived a young man named Trey, who stood tall.
His heart soared with freedom, a spirit untamed,
For he found his passion on four wheels, skateboarding unchained.
Trey, a soul filled with fire and grace,
With every trick and jump, he found his place.
He glided through streets, defying gravity’s hold,
On his trusty skateboard, his story was told.
With the wind in his hair and a gleam in his eye,
Trey embraced the challenge, reaching for the sky.
From kickflips to ollies, his board his faithful steed,
He painted the pavement with every trick, indeed.
In the city’s playground, he found his escape,
Through grinds and slides, he shaped his own landscape.
His skateboard, a vessel for self-expression and flair,
As he carved his path with a fearless air.
Trey’s spirit soared as he conquered each ledge,
From empty pools to ramps, a boundless edge.
He embraced the falls, knowing they’d lead to flight,
For skateboarding taught him resilience, both day and night.
Through trials and tribulations, he pushed to the brink,
A symphony of motion, each trick a link.
The rhythm of wheels on pavement, a melody bold,
Trey danced with the board, a story untold.
With every twist and turn, he discovered his groove,
The freedom of skateboarding, a passion he’d prove.
Trey, a young skater, his spirit unchained,
In the world of concrete waves, his dreams remained.
So let this poem celebrate Trey’s daring ride,
As he glides through life, on his skateboard with pride.
For in his pursuit of passion, he found his own way,
A young man named Trey, forever skating, come what may.”
It’s not Whitman, but not bad for a piece that took a little over two seconds to write.
My friend is an artist, so she asked it to paint a picture…with certain specifications.
“Ask it to paint a picture that is heavenly, includes elephants, ethereal, is moody, dreamy, with muted and warm tones painted with a Salvador Dali influence.”
Good luck with that, you phoney hack…
Three seconds later…
I don’t know about you, but I found this amazing, and slightly unnerving.
In a world that can no longer discern the true from the false, we now have a tool that can create the false in seconds.
Biblically, we are constantly warned about deception…and how deception will be the hallmark of the enemies work as we move toward the eschaton.
My friend painted a different picture of the future…and I fear she might be right.
“The sad thing is it addictive, will increase further dis-humanity, loss of authenticity, loss of art, craftsmanship, loss of artistry, loss of depth, loss of creativity, all to increase all of what we currently are facing now… the dumbing and numbing of society. No one is an individual or unique or has talent. No one reads a real book any longer, this will destroy us.”
What do you think?
It’s frightening how new AI is overtaking old AI. In 1997, a program narrowly beat the world chess champion. A program written with a whole lot of chess mastery. Then in 2017 a neural network – a generalist program with no chess strategy programmed in – teaches itself to play at a comparable level to specialist chess programs. I feel for the writers of the latter, whose hard work was overtaken by something simpler.
In 1999 I studied AI as part of computer science at uni. At that time, AI simply meant advanced problem solving. There were just two lectures and an assignment on neural networks. Now NNs are the main thing in AI. Much of the theory was there back then, but it’s only in the last decade we’ve had enough computing power to do these amazing things.
The progress just in the last year has been astounding. I don’t know what we’re going to see by the end of this year.
The potential for fake video will be a worry. Expect fake videos to circulate in election campaigns.
Although AI tools make it easier for ordinary people to create stuff, there is still big demand for skills with those tools – who know how to give the right prompts to get the best picture. (Then you have people asking ChatGPT for the right prompt to use for one of the image generation tools).
It’s easier to cheat at school. If you plagiarise, you’ll likely get caught. But ChatGPT produces original content. There was a news item about an AI-generated sermon, but there are probably a lot more of these preached that we know.
I just read a book about the exploits of Russian government hackers (and the slowness with which the world responded). I imagine they are trying all combinations of generative AI with existing hacking techniques now.
Eric,
I hate over reacting to current trends…but this one has me spooked.
The ability to create fake audio and video about a person has ramifications not just in elections, but criminal and civil cases.
I’m studying the book of Revelation so I can imagine even worse… 🙂
Whoever worked on the AI for poetry cared way more about end rhymes than scansion and poetic rhytm or meter. Not bad for two seconds, indeed, but the shortcuts also leap out.
The Dali pachyderms work better. 🙂
There was a case where AI was used to create a pop song with vocalists on it who were neither involved in the songwriting or performance. I haven’t heard the song but in some ways songs are probably not much tougher than poetry for AI to set up. If AI can do the rhymes then throwing in a I-V-vi-IV progression and synthesizing voices could give us a pile of posthumous Hank Williams Sr … though I hope that doesn’t happen.
Maranatha!!
AI writings read like a precocious 10 year-old. See how smart and fast I am? …But it’s pure banality. Zero nuance and choosing words. That poem had no flow at all and added nothing to the request.
The attempts at Dali – AI easily knows how to make trees turning into elephants, mystery boat-shaped objects on the horizon, etc. Surrealism seems to be in AI’s wheel house.
Michael,
I work in a school where all things tech have been readily embraced-until AI. When you’re a world language teacher, Google translate is a pain, except you know what your students have had. Example: I can always sniff out GT because my students don’t know past tense yet. But, with AI, you can specify what you need in your product. The response from my colleagues who teach higher levels of language/AP classes-all future essays need to be written in class by hand and checked by the teacher before they can be typed up. The teacher will scan and keep a copy of the original for comparison purposes. It’s like going back 50 years, but they haven’t thought of another way to get around AI.
Terry,
I think the banality was expected as I didn’t give it any artistic parameters or stylistic comparisons.
My point is that this can produce material quickly and it’s abilities will increase exponentially in a short period of time.
My bigger point is that we’re not ready for it.
When we introduced the horror of nuclear war on the world the culture still had guardrails…and I think this is an equivilent change in a world without them…
Linn,
In some ways all these tools are making real education passe…knowledge without wisdom…
Michael,
We still teach handwriting and use real books at my school. We have blended technology and traditional fairly well, with art and music as a core part of the curriculum. but AI is another animal that needs to be tamed. Trying to ignore a specific type of technology doesn’t make it go away. I’m sure there are some positive uses for AI, but we need to discover them.
I’m thankful to be at a school where cell phones are banned in the elementary grades and teachers are not to use them during class (barring an emergency). We have real PE and genuine interaction between people. Screen time is tracked, informally, and teachers are encouarged not to always be using laptops/tablets/internet. it helps!
Linn,
Sounds like a great school!
CK, ‘maranatha?’ ….. perhaps
When my daughter was in 1st grade, I was surprised that one of her friends had a smart phone. They were watching YouTube before an after school event. Both kids asked me for phones then and later, but I responded, “why do you need phones? You’re with me, your mother or at school, who you gonna call?” Of course they respond, “Ghostbusters!”
Both now at 11 and 13 don’t argue or whine. I’ll get a flip text only phone for my 13yo as he’s going into 8th and started walking home 2 miles last year. I allow them too much screen time at home as it is.
@ The New Victor,
It’s scary, almost like the 1956 production of “Invasion of the Body Snatchers”.
Everywhere I go now, I see people always on the phone, zombie-like and oblivious to their surroundings.
The other thought I’ve had was the potential of AI that might be unleashed on social media. Fake accounts that respond to specific words and phrases, all programmed to spread disinformation far and wide. With both sides deploying them, one would have to abandon the major platforms as they would be overwhelmed. They don’t have to be self aware to cause major problems. I know someone will say they are already here. What I’m, imagining are ones that aren’t as easy to detect.