There is what may seem to be a cynical contrarian view that technology has not solved any of the true existential problems facing civilization so far on our global table; technology didn't solve the pandemic; it didn't solve climate change. Most of what happened in the last 30 or 40 years did not deliver on technology’s early promise, when conventional wisdom was that computers would ease the burden of labor and give us all a tremendous boost in leisure time.
Or did technologies developed to solve specific problems actually solve the problems that they were designed to address? And what we have, on the other hand, is a law of unintended consequences: as we create new technology, we create new problems.
In this conversation, Aviv Shahar and two global researchers on the leading edge of technology development explore the evolution of artificial intelligence and its implications for the evolution of humanity.
Artificial intelligence has created an evolutionary shift in perception in the mind of the human. We're able to perceive more, we're able to perceive differently than what we did in 1936. What we're creating as intelligence systems now might seem advanced at the moment that we create them, and yet, five years later, we look back on them and say, ‘Wow, that was so primitive.’
Dr. Alan Litchfield
Being born with an intense curiosity about the world and at the same time confused by contradictions and unexplained patterns in society has led to a restless life of seeking and searching, penetrating into the purposes and reasons of existence throughout material and subtle worlds. As Director of the Service and Cloud Computing Research Lab at the Auckland University of Technology, much of that is presently focused on research into novel and new technologies and how they might mediate the empowerment of individuals. Also, this is expressed through the philosophy of science and the philosophy of technology in which there are enduring questions about the relationship between what people have expressed of themselves and created, what they thought would be the outcomes, what we all have to show for it, and what are the opportunities for betterment.
Also, being born of Māori (Ngāti Whatua, Te Rarawa, Ngāpuhi, Tainui) descent provides approaches and constructs that differ from the typically accepted western world view. This includes how a person relates to their environment, family, their past, present, and future, and the interrelationships that exist through all levels of self.
Wai (Albert) Yeap
When I first learned of Artificial Intelligence (AI) as an undergraduate student, I was fascinated with the idea of creating a machine that is intelligent. I asked: “what is intelligence?,” and since then my fascination with AI is aimed at answering this question.
To me, the answer lies not in trying to define what intelligence is but, rather, in finding out how it comes about, from perception to cognition. While our ability to perform a task reveals how intelligent we are, my research as a Professor of AI has shown one could perform well without understanding.
Recently, I developed an approach whereby I empower a robot with a basic model of spatial cognition and show how the robot’s process could be extended to perform behaviorally, like other species. I hope, one day, the mystery of the mind could be unlocked, thereby allowing us to transcend from our biological self into infinity.
Aviv Shahar
Aviv is the Founder of Aviv Consulting, helping leaders unleash strategic innovation, and is the author of Create New Futures: How Leaders Produce Breakthroughs and Transform the World Through Conversation.
