"Fifty years, blink of an eye. I'm here looking out to all of you wondering what's next. I saw the arrival of the fax machine, remember those? E-mail, personal computers, the internet, smartphones, OMG, social media. All of these transitions in novel, new modes of communication. After all of this, now comes the arrival of AI. OMG, well it's part of editorial and marketing already. However, just like the advent of all of these other technologies, AI is causing an uproar in the human psyche and all sorts of machination in the world of events. However, I have good news for all of you, with the advent of AI comes the advent of AS, Artificial Stupidity. This is where highly intelligent people say really stupid things.
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| Ehud Sperling (photo: Ben DeFlorio) |
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"For example, this notion of AGI, Artificial General Intelligence: it's the idea that machines will soon outperform humans. For one artifice or another, whether it is for greed, jealousy or competition, this idea of machines surpassing humans is a really stupid idea. Just on the basis of the science. For example, each one of you in this room has billions of cells in your body, each individual cell has more computing capacity than all the large language models put together. Further, this biological computing power uses very little energy, where large language models require greater and greater processors and more and more electricity.
"Right now large language models have absorbed about as much data as a child absorbs in their first four years of life. Unlike a child, they can only transact based on data that has already been structured and is available in digital format. But no worries, the triad is finished. You've got AI, AS, now you've got RI--Real Intelligence. That is what exists in this tent, that is what makes the publishing endeavor so exciting and that's what makes it so rewarding for me. Even after 50 years of diligently pursuing this vocation, it remains fresh, original and continually challenging and exciting. For this great gift, I wish to thank you all because you are what makes it possible."