Fandango’s question this week has to do with artificial intelligence…
What would happen if Al surpassed human intelligence?
Of course, he didn’t come up with the question, he tells us: he asked an AI program called Genie to come up with the question for him. Naturally, being the smartass you all have come to know and love, I downloaded Genie and had it answer the question for me.
If AI surpassed human intelligence, it could potentially lead to a variety of outcomes. It could lead to the automation of many jobs, the development of new technologies, and the potential for AI to solve complex problems that humans are unable to. It could also lead to the potential for AI to become a threat to humanity, as it could potentially become more powerful than humans and be used for malicious purposes.
I could leave it at that, but that would be too easy.
I watched a video last night by Rick Beato, an Atlanta-based musician, producer, music teacher, and vlogger. The video I watched was ostensibly about Auto-Tune, but the first part is his reaction to a segment of an interview he did with Billy Corgan of The Smashing Pumpkins. Rather than try and summarize what Rick and Billy said, here’s the video.
Seeing Rick’s example of writing a song using AI, I just had to try it myself, so I asked Genie to write a song about batteries in the style of George Harrison. Here’s what it came up with…
Verse 1:
Batteries, they power our lives,
From the cars we drive to the lights that shine so bright.
We rely on them to keep us going,
And they never seem to be slowing.
Chorus:
Batteries, they keep us alive,
They’re the source of our energy drive.
We can’t do without them,
They’re the power that we need.
Verse 2:
Batteries, they make our lives so much easier,
From the phones we use to the toys that make us cheer.
We depend on them to keep us going,
And they never seem to be slowing.
Chorus:
Batteries, they keep us alive,
They’re the source of our energy drive.
We can’t do without them,
They’re the power that we need.
Bridge:
We need to take care of our batteries,
And make sure they’re always charged.
We need to use them wisely,
And never let them be discharged.
Chorus:
Batteries, they keep us alive,
They’re the source of our energy drive.
We can’t do without them,
They’re the power that we need.
Somewhere, George is laughing his ass off. Meanwhile, many of you are thinking "I knew you didn’t write it! It’s too good!"
I think AI is a good thing and ultimately will cause more good than harm, and it wouldn’t surprise me if AI grew to be more intelligent than humans. In fact, I think that’s the idea. Ultimately, though, it comes down to the coding: a machine won’t try and take over the world unless, at some point in the process, someone supplies the code to give the machine that idea.
And that’s the best I can do…
The Sound of One Hand Typing 
pretty bad song. Ha.
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Did you ever read “The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy”? Remember Vogon poetry? The song is maybe a little better than that. But not much.
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Long time ago and my memory not too good. But yeah, pretty bad.
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I had no idea how weeklies invasive this AI is. I didn’t know that nasally lead singer couldn’t hit those high notes.
George Harrison is jamming g qith Jeff Beck eight now
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George, Jeff, Prince, Tom Petty, John Lennon…
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Interesting post and a clever song, John.
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Thanks! You have to thank Genie for the song.
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Perhaps you should copyright those lyrics and send them to the makers of Duracell or Energizer batteries. I can’t wait to hear it on one of their commercials!
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I am always fearful that AI might see us for what we are and decide to illuminate us. Strangely enough I have just read Machines like me by Ian McEwan a very interesting but disturbing story.
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Did you mean “eliminate” us? I ought to check out that book…
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Yes I did yes do it’s very good and set in the eighties which I thought was strange but it was an excellent read. 💜
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I like your AI song. I got a real charge from it.
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Good thought processes John.
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I have been creating some pretty darned cool artwork with an AI engine. I will, post about it in the coming days. I have a friend who uses AI for many of her blog posts. I won’t go down that path. I imagine the future of college papers might be in question, though.
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Have you seen the story Fandango came up with using Genie? It isn’t bad at all. I might try that some time.
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No. I will check it out.
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In my sixth book, I built a scenario where AI solved the climate and pollution problem on Earth. You guessed it the intelligence in control eliminated all humans. Great solution for the Earth. Not s great for the humans.
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There are people today who believe the world should have no more than 500 million people. Same idea…
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I haven’t met any of those.
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Jane Goodall is one….
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Oh. Not surprised.
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Bill Gates is another one.
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In general, the Davos crowd is all in favor of it.
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Yep.
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