What AI Doesn't Know - And Why It Matters Authored by Richard Porter via RealClearPolitics , Artificial intelligence has taken the wired world by storm , but the backlash came almost as fast. Progressives complain of job losses, environmentalists question the ecological impacts of huge data centers, and local activists are clamoring for assurances that household utility bills won’t skyrocket becau...
What AI Doesn't Know - And Why It Matters Authored by Richard Porter via RealClearPolitics , Artificial intelligence has taken the wired world by storm , but the backlash came almost as fast. Progressives complain of job losses, environmentalists question the ecological impacts of huge data centers, and local activists are clamoring for assurances that household utility bills won’t skyrocket because of the centers’ voracious electricity requirements. Others simply worry that the technology will overwhelm humans’ ability to control it. At least in part, these reactions stem from the overselling of AI. AI is super cool, but it’s not superhuman nor is it super intelligent. AI is simply very fast processing of vast amounts of data. Intelligence, knowledge, understanding and wisdom are all different concepts; the distinction between them elucidates the scope and limits of both human and electronic “intelligence.” Intelligence is the ability to process information into an internally coherent framework that’s useful and adds or detracts from knowledge to the extent it is more or less accurate. Knowledge is the accumulation of information organized into coherent frames or models that help us understand . Understanding is awareness of the significance, purpose, or meaning of accumulated knowledge. And wisdom is judgment seasoned by experience and the awareness that intelligence, knowledge, and understanding are limited, inherently flawed, and useful only to the extent they advance a worthwhile purpose. Nearly 2,500 years ago, the Oracle of Delphi reportedly declared that no man was wiser than Socrates . Socrates claimed to be stunned by this because he was keenly aware of how much he didn’t know. But after talking to others widely acclaimed to be knowledgeable, such as the leading politicians, poets, philosophers, and artisans of his day, he discerned this Delphic wisdom: Those claiming knowledge were ignorant of their own ignorance, whereas Socrates knew he knew nothing. Fo...