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Data-Driven Leadership and Careers
AI: Science Fiction vs Reality
Will AI fully exit the realm of science fiction and begin to change everything?
Now that everyone is talking about ChatGPT, I’m finding myself dodging some version of this question more often:
“Will AI fully exit the realm of science fiction and begin to change everything?”
The reason I usually nope out of this question is that there’s some sneaky sleight of hand in there which ensures that intelligent discussion will be dead on arrival. That’s because language is a slippery eel and there’s no law against people using the same word to mean different things in different contexts, but let me indulge the question just this once.
There’s no law against people using the same word to mean different things in different contexts. That’s what’s happening when people talk about AI these days.
Let’s look at some of the ways that people are using the term AI to talk past one another. When we see those for what they are, the answer to our slippery question will slither into the light of day all by itself.
Homonym 1: The AI made up by writers
The AI you’ll find in the pages of science fiction novels is entirely made up! Most of the time, it plays the same role in the narrative as all the other conveniently creepy almost-but-not-quite-human entities — demons, clones, demigods, aliens, golems, spirits, talking animals, animated puppets — that force us to confront what it means to be human. I hope no one is surprised that the sentient human-adjacent evil antagonist version of AI doesn’t exist.
Hate to disappoint, but a murderous HAL 9000 isn’t going to be piloting your spaceship anytime soon.
