Communications of the ACM
Are We Thinking About Artificial Intelligence All Wrong?
Computer scientist Jerry Kaplan says it may be necessary to rethink artificial intelligence.
Credit: Government Computer News
Computer scientist and author Jerry Kaplan contends a rethink of artificial intelligence (AI) may be necessary, noting public discourse has been distorted by an overemphasis on the concept of machines and software becoming so intelligent they can replace human employees in virtually any capacity.
"There's very little evidence that machines are on the path to becoming thinking, sentient beings," Kaplan notes.
He argues there are tasks humans use intelligence for, which machines could perform without thinking in a human manner--such as translation and text analysis.
Kaplan foresees job destruction accelerated by AI advances being accompanied by job transformation, as new technologies and their attendant disruption will eventually generate new jobs. Moreover, he says federal technologists should embrace such changes, as the boom in sensor-driven data and machine learning could make many government operations and agencies dramatically more effective.
Kaplan acknowledges automation leads to job loss, and says although it is not the job of innovators to take care of the people they are displacing, "somebody else has to stand up. And that somebody either is government or is facilitated by government policies."
From Government Computer News
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