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By Doug Collins

One Man's Opinion

COLLINS: Artificial intelligence — our friend or enemy?

Sep 29, 2023 | 5:03 AM

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (or AI) is one of the major issues of our time. Aside from climate change, it can be a major gamechanger in the way we live our lives.

Community safety, the drug issues, the cost of living and the lack of housing are huge problems we must overcome but the destruction of the planet (or not) will more likely be influenced more by the climate we live in and the power of AI, although it may take some time for that to become evident .

AI has reared its head very quickly, at least in the public eye, and most of us have little real understanding of it, how it works and how to control it. Kind of reminds me of nuclear power. If properly controlled, it has tremendous positive potential. But in the wrong hands, it can be a terrible force for death and destruction.

The same for AI. In the right hands, it will be able to takes us forward at a great rate of speed. It can sift through multiple levels of information, finding results almost instantaneously. What a boon for the police. Also great for the study of medicine. So many opportunities for advancement.

On the other side of coin, artificial intelligence can result in the elimination of hundreds of thousands of jobs because it can do so much. It can result in negative dissemination of information. Bad intel in, much worse intel out. People arrested, maybe convicted because the models are skewed to a certain bias.

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So AI has to be regulated. How do we do that?

The information highway is so complicated now, it will clearly be a major challenge. I have only been able to skim the surface. And the magnitude of what AI can do is still beyond the reach of most of us.

But fortunately, there is some really good information out there. You have to find credible sites to avoid conspiracy theories and misinformation. But they are there and some simple searches on the web will give you lots of choices. Two sites I would recommend. For those like me who are more visual learners, there are several sites that give you the basics.

This link takes you to an article that discusses AI, presenting the various aspects of AI in a manner that even I can understand. It was very helpful.

And there is a lot of other material out there as well. This one was also helpful.

It bears a little research, but this is something we very much need to get ahead of. If we don’t move, we will be looking at this from outside the box, and once we get behind, it will be nearly impossible to catch up.

I’m Doug Collins and that’s One Man’s Opinion.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or Pattison Media.