The Peace & Power of a Positive Perspective: There’s a difference…

I attended a presentation by Dr. Troy Butler. He is the Associate Dean of Research & Creative Activities at the Colorado University Denver School of Liberal Arts. His topic involved the compatibility of artificial intelligence with a liberal arts education.

I was surprised that Dr. Butler is also a Professor of Mathematics at CU Denver and a researcher in the field of uncertainty quantification, stochastic inverse problems, and computational probability (among other things). According to ChatGPT, a stochastic inverse problem is:

A kind of mathematical problem where you try to infer uncertain inputs of a model from observed outputs, while explicitly accounting for randomness or uncertainty.

Any Star Trek fans?

Dr. Butler focused on the mathematical/technological vs. the liberal arts – “learning how to learn” - side of the equation. His sophistication describing how AI works reminded me of its beginnings in the business arena:

Since Appian was first a famous Roman highway, you'd think this might be a clue to Xymos' new identity. But the release says;

“Appian was chosen for the name because it represents the ability to use leading edge technology and innovation, integrated into solutions that provide differentiation and competitive advantage.”

Just what the Romans had in mind.

Rick Levine

I have a liberal arts degree and I’m a career sales professional in the business-to-business, technology field. Even so, when it comes to the uncontrolled proliferation of AI, I find myself leaning towards the Luddites’ camp as described by Jaron Lanier in You Are Not a Gadget: A Manifesto ©.

With that in mind, permit me to summarize my takeaways from Dr. Butler’s presentation:

AI (which I refer to as “the machines”) does not think the way we humans think. It computes – the way we humans can’t compute. There’s a difference.
Human thinking involves perception, reasoning, imagination, and rational judgement. The machines occasionally hallucinate. That’s about it. There’s a difference.
AI computes on “big data” (immense/immeasurable, really) with Large Language Models, probability, and “Machine Learning”. That’s not how you and I do it. There’s a difference.
AI doesn’t have “feelings”. It merely emulates via a statistical combination and sequencing of words in a sentence that has a high probability of sounding like feelings to we humans. AI does not “discern”; it is not “a friend”. It’s a machine.