As an experiment, I uploaded a photo I took into Chat GPT last week.
I typed in, “Adjust the lighting in this photo.” Within moments, it sent me back an oversaturated image that made the two people in the picture look like they enjoyed a tropical week-long vacation. They were also missing eyes.
I laughed at the moment. But after reflecting on a few interviews and conferences I have attended in the last two weeks, it’s also a sign of a critical element of artificial intelligence that is still missing – the need for a human in the machine.
I tend to view things with skepticism. Much of my view around technology is shaped from blockbuster films I enjoyed as a kid like “Terminator,” “Minority Report” and even “I, Robot.”
Technology is a wonderous thing, even looking back to how rudimentary levers and the wheel revolutionized how we move and transport things. In the 2000s, I remember dictating my essays to my Mom because she knew how to use our one desktop Dell computer tucked away in our study. Fast forward to 2010, and I was buying my first laptop to write essays.
Now, it seems that college students can ask an AI language model to write the essay for them – or the professors to write the presentations, script emails, create and grade homework.
But there is a dark side to machines, and obviously, I buy into that because of the movies listed earlier. Those stories showed the extreme consequences when humans put too much trust in machines. Lately, I have been thinking about VIKI in the latter of the films and how easy it was for the cloud server boxed in an ethereal light to stage a coup in 2035 Chicago with a flick of a switch. Almost like how easy it was for Skynet and Joshua in “WarGames” to kick-start a nuclear war.
Is that going to happen tomorrow? No. But we already know that social media sites collect your data in some capacity. We willingly let Amazon Alexa tell us the time and play music on command, while listening to our conversations and doing whatever with that information. Neighbors across the street have Ring Cameras pointed outside, quietly surveilling families as they walk on the sidewalk.
Using technology and AI, is a decision of give and take. What are the benefits of using it? What do you give up? You get time back from some of the menial tasks or security of an easy in-home security system that stores video footage for the consumer to access.
I save hours of my workday by relying on transcription tools like Otter. When I was a cub reporter, I remember transcribing hours of council meetings by hand to make sure I had it 150% accurate. Back when I joined Otter in 2017, it was free for unlimited minutes, now I have a paid plan. With recent concerns about security issues on what happens with those recordings, I’m starting to look into new platforms. On a rare occasion, I use ChatGPT to help me identify where I can improve search engine optimization or help me find a word that’s on the tip of my tongue. I also rely on it to write minute reports for one of my volunteer boards.
Last week, I attended the Maryland Delaware D.C. Press Association and sat in on a session about AI. Some other editors and journalists were extolling the virtues of using it to help write briefs or short profiles for select programs. Some, apparently, were celebrating that some of their AI-assisted content was getting more clicks.
Others raised ethical concerns about what it means to “use AI” as it’s a blanket term these days. Is it original reporting if you feed your notes into AI and ask it for help in writing an article? What about outlining? How secure is it? Where does the information go?
All uncomfortable questions business owners, professionals and humans should be asking themselves if they haven’t already. Where is your comfort level with this new technology? How can it be best used to maximize return while supporting your work instead of replacing it?
Today, I’m thinking of a particular scene in “I, Robot” where Will Smith tells the first sentient robot on earth that machines are an imitation of life and “cannot make a beautiful masterpiece.” The robot then, in turn, makes a masterful drawing in one minute.
While writing this editorial, I asked ChatGPT to improve the lighting on the same photo as I did earlier this week. It came back less frightening and more appealing. The colors were rich and the light was balanced.
But one person has six fingers on one hand – and both people in the image have completely different faces.
