Showdown #6: Is Artificial Intelligence Good?

In episode 266, siblings Olivia and Noah debate whether artificial intelligence is good.

VOTE - https://forms.office.com/r/dciYgWrPNM

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Transcript

PODCAST 266: THE GREAT SIBLING SHOWDOWN

SHOWDOWN #6:  IS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE GOOD?

RELEASE DATE: SUNDAY, MARCH 17TH, 2024

D:  HELLO, AND WELCOME BACK TO ***THE GREAT SIBLING SHOWDOWN***.  IN THE LAST EPISODE, OLIVIA AND NOAH DEBATED WHETHER HUMANS SHOULD COLONIZE THE MOON.  IN OTHER WORDS, SHOULD HUMANS START LIVING ON THE MOON?  EVEN THOUGH IT’S SOMETHING THAT SEEMS SO CRAZY, THERE IS A GOOD CHANCE THAT HUMANS ATTEMPT TO LIVE ON THE MOON, OR EVEN MARS, IN THE NOT SO DISTANT FUTURE.  WE LOVED READING ALL YOUR VOTES AS THEY CAME IN.  WE HAD NO IDEA HOW THE VOTING FOR THIS ONE WOULD GO.  ARE YOU READY TO HEAR WHAT OUR LISTENERS THINK ABOUT THE LAST DEBATE?  WE ARE GOING TO SHARE THE RESULTS OF THE VOTE IN JUST A MOMENT, BUT FIRST…

O:  MAILBAG!

N:  MAILBAG!

O:  HERE ARE A FEW MESSAGES FROM LISTENERS WHO AGREED THAT HUMANS SHOULD COLONIZE THE MOON:

Alex and Hamish from Brisbane, Australia said "I think that humans should colonize the moon. Olivia made some really good points about living on the moon like how we are running out of space on Earth and it doesn't matter if it's expensive because in the future it will be easier to transport things to the moon.”

Evan from Montreal, Canada said “Because we may have a mass extinction event and the population is growing giga fast.”

Aidan from Brooklyn, New York said we should colonize the moon because “it would be fun and cool!”

N:  NOW GET READY TO ENJOY SOME MESSAGES FROM LISTENERS WHO AGREED WITH ME THAT HUMANS SHOULD NOT COLONIZE THE MOON:

Poppy Tsai from Taiwan said “I think people can make cool robotic machines to observe the moon. We don’t have to send people there for the fear of losing their precious lives.”

Ava from Downpatrick, Ireland said “I think we should look after the planet we live on. We do not need to waste money on living on the moon.  Love listening to your podcast with my mum every Sunday!! Keep up the good work!”  

April from Atlanta, Georgia said “You guys did a great job trying to convince all of the listeners to vote for you.  I thought about it and I think that humans should NOT colonize the moon because as Noah said, it would be nearly impossible for humans to live on the moon.plus I agree that it would be REALLY expensive to make humans able survive on the moon.”

D:  LOTS OF LISTENERS VOTED TO LET US KNOW IF THEY THINK HUMANS SHOULD COLONIZE THE MOON, SO THANK YOU FOR TAKING A MINUTE TO LET US KNOW WHAT YOU THINK.  ARE YOU READY TO FIND OUT HOW OUR LISTENERS FEEL ABOUT THE MOON DEBATE?  DRUMROLL PLEASE.

***DRUMROLL***

WITH 60.3% OF THE TOTAL VOTE, THE LISTENERS THINK THAT HUMANS SHOULD NOT COLONIZE THE MOON.

O:  THAT’S A REALLY CLOSE VOTE.  WE DIDN’T KNOW WHAT THE RESULTS WERE GOING TO BE UNTIL THE VERY END.

N:  IF YOU WANT TO HEAR MORE ABOUT HOW ALL THREE OF US REALLY FEEL ABOUT THE DEBATE, CHECK OUT OUR MOST RECENT PATREON PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE.  

D:  IN THE PATREON EPISODE, WE DISCUSSED THE THEORY THAT HUMANS ARE GOING TO RUN OUT OF SPACE ON EARTH BECAUSE THE POPULATION IS GROWING SO QUICKLY.  IT TURNS OUT THAT SCIENTISTS BELIEVE THAT POPULATION GROWTH WILL SLOW DOWN BY THE END OF THIS CENTURY, AND IT WILL LIKELY DECLINE AFTER THAT.  ARE YOU WONDERING WHY THEY FEEL THAT WAY?  WELL, YOU SHOULD GIVE THE PATREON EPISODE A LISTEN TO FIND OUT.  THERE IS TONS OF EXTRA CONTENT FOR YOU TO ENJOY ON PATREON.  

NOW THAT WE WENT OVER THE RESULTS OF SHOWDOWN #5, IT’S TIME TO MOVE ON TO THE SHOWDOWN TOPIC FOR THIS WEEK.  THIS WEEK, IN SHOWDOWN #6, OLIVIA AND NOAH WILL DEBATE WHETHER ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IS GOOD?

***INTERLUDE***

SO, WHAT IS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE?  LET’S FIGURE IT OUT BY FIRST DEFINING WHAT INTELLIGENCE IS.  INTELLIGENCE IS THE ABILITY TO LEARN AND TO USE WHAT IS LEARNED TO GAIN KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS.  HUMANS ARE THE MOST INTELLIGENT ANIMALS ON EARTH.  BUT ANIMALS ARE NOT THE ONLY THINGS THAT ARE INTELLIGENT.  COMPUTERS AND ROBOTS CAN BE INTELLIGENT TOO.  ISN’T IT AMAZING HOW YOU CAN ASK A COMPUTER TO SOLVE A VERY COMPLICATED MATH PROBLEM, AND THE COMPUTER IS ABLE TO SPIT AN ANSWER BACK OUT AT YOU ALMOST INSTANTANEOUSLY?  I THINK IT’S PRETTY COOL, AND IT ALSO SHOWS THAT COMPUTERS ARE INTELLIGENT, AND IN SOME WAYS, EVEN MORE INTELLIGENT THAN HUMANS.

BUT HERE IS THE BIG QUESTION.  DO COMPUTERS HAVE THE SAME KIND OF INTELLIGENCE HUMANS DO?  ARE THEY ABLE TO “LEARN AND USE WHAT IS LEARNED TO GAIN KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS” IN THE SAME WAY A HUMAN CAN?  OR ARE COMPUTERS ONLY AS INTELLIGENT AS THE PROGRAMS CREATED FOR THEM BY HUMANS?  FOR SCIENTISTS WORKING ON DESIGNING COMPUTERS AND ROBOTS CAPABLE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, THE GOAL IS TO HAVE COMPUTERS THINK AND LEARN THE SAME WAY THAT HUMANS DO.  

WHEN COMPUTERS ANALYZE INFORMATION, THEY DON’T DO IT THE SAME WAY AS HUMANS.  COMPUTERS CAN ONLY APPLY THE FACTS IT HAS PROGRAMMED TO SOLVE PROBLEMS.  WHEN HUMANS ANALYZE INFORMATION TO MAKE DECISIONS, THEY USE OTHER SKILLS LIKE AWARENESS, EMOTION, AND IMAGINATION.  THOSE ARE SKILLS THAT COMPUTERS DON’T TYPICALLY HAVE, ALTHOUGH THE GOAL OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IS TO PROGRAM COMPUTERS TO APPLY THOSE SKILLS WHEN MAKING A DECISION, SO THAT A COMPUTER COULD REALLY HAVE THE INTELLIGENCE OF A HUMAN.  

IN 1950, THE STUDY OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE BEGAN WITH BRITISH MATHEMATICIAN ALAN TURING.  HE DESIGNED A TEST TO SEE IF COMPUTERS ARE INTELLIGENT.  IN THE TEST, A JUDGE ASKS A SET OF QUESTIONS FOR A COMPUTER AND A HUMAN TO ANSWER.  BOTH THE COMPUTER AND THE HUMAN ANSWER EACH QUESTION.  THE JUDGE THEN TRIES TO FIGURE OUT WHICH ANSWERS CAME FROM THE COMPUTER AND WHICH CAME FROM A HUMAN.  IF THE JUDGE CAN’T FIGURE OUT WHICH IS WHICH, IT’S FAIR TO SAY THAT THE COMPUTER IS INTELLIGENT.  SO FAR, NO COMPUTER HAS PASSED THE TURING TEST.  

MANY PEOPLE HAVE CONCERNS OVER WHAT MIGHT HAPPEN IF COMPUTERS BECOME AS INTELLIGENT AS HUMANS, AND WHAT ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE MIGHT LEAD TO IN THE FUTURE.  IN THIS SHOWDOWN, OLIVIA IS GOING TO ARGUE THAT ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IS GOOD, AND NOAH IS GOING TO ARGUE THAT IT’S BAD.  THEY ARE GOING TO DEBATE THE TOPIC IN THREE DIFFERENT ROUNDS, AND THEN IT’S GOING TO BE UP TO YOU, OUR AMAZING LISTENERS, TO VOTE TO LET US KNOW WHAT YOU THINK AND TO SETTLE THIS DEBATE ONCE AND FOR ALL.  LET’S GET THINGS STARTED WITH ROUND 1.  OLIVIA, WHY IS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE GOOD?

O:  IT’S REALLY SIMPLE.  ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE JUST MAKES OUR LIVES EASIER.  WHEN PEOPLE USE TRAFFIC APPS, IT HELPS THEM GET AROUND QUICKER.  WHEN PEOPLE STREAM THEIR TV SHOWS, IT HELPS THEM FIND SHOWS THEY ARE MORE LIKELY TO ENJOY.  ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, OR A.I. FOR SHORT, CAN EVEN HELP YOU STAY HEALTHY OR GET HEALTHIER.  A.I. TECHNOLOGY IS USED BY SMART WATCHES TO MONITOR PHYSICAL ACTIVITY.  I HAVE A SOCCER BALL THAT USES A.I. TECHNOLOGY TO CHECK MY SOCCER FOOTWORK TO MAKE SURE I’M DOING THINGS CORRECTLY.

A.I. CAN HELP MONITOR YOUR HEARTBEAT TO MAKE SURE IT’S NORMAL, AND IT CAN ALSO ALERT YOUR DOCTOR IF SOMETHING SEEMS TO BE WRONG.  

WHEN USING SMART SPEAKERS LIKE AMAZON ECHO, A.I. CAN BE USED FOR SO MANY THINGS, LIKE SETTING TIMERS AND ALARMS, CHECKING THE WEATHER, AND EVEN PLAYING COMFORTING MUSIC TO HELP BABIES FALL ASLEEP.  EVEN THOUGH THESE FORMS OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE ARE PRETTY NEW, IT’S HARD TO IMAGINE GOING BACK TO A TIME WHEN THEY DIDN’T EXIST.      

N:  SURE OLIVIA, ALL THOSE THINGS ARE NICE, BUT THERE IS A BIG PROBLEM WITH ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE.  THAT PROBLEM IS UNEMPLOYMENT.  PEOPLE WILL LOSE THEIR JOBS BECAUSE THEY WILL GET REPLACED BY COMPUTERS OR ROBOTS.  IF YOU’VE BEEN TO A SUPERMARKET OR A STORE LIKE TARGET OR WALMART RECENTLY, YOU WILL SEE WHAT I MEAN.  WHEN YOU GO TO PAY FOR YOUR THINGS, CHANCES ARE THAT YOU WILL END UP USING SELF-CHECKOUT.  THAT MEANS THAT YOU ARE GOING TO SCAN YOUR OWN ITEMS AND PAY FOR THEM.  JUST A FEW YEARS AGO, SELF CHECKOUT DIDN’T EXIST.  EMPLOYEES WOULD HELP YOU CHECKOUT.  NOW THAT SELF-CHECKOUT EXISTS, MANY PEOPLE LOST THEIR JOBS.  

IN RECENT YEARS, MORE THAN 10,000 JOBS PER YEAR HAVE BEEN LOST TO AUTOMATION.  THOSE JOB CUTS HAPPENED MOSTLY IN FAST FOOD RESTAURANTS, HOTELS, AND RETAIL STORES.  A RECENT REPORT SHOWS THAT 43% OF BUSINESSES PLAN TO CUT JOBS AND REPLACE THOSE WORKERS WITH COMPUTERS AND ROBOTS.  COMPUTERS AND ROBOTS DON’T TAKE SICK DAYS, DON’T TAKE BATHROOM AND LUNCH BREAKS, AND THEY DON’T NEED HEALTH INSURANCE LIKE HUMANS DO.  FOR A LOT OF BUSINESSES, USING A.I. INSTEAD OF HUMANS IS A NO BRAINER.  THAT’S NOT GOOD NEWS AT ALL.

***BELL RINGS***

D:  ROUND ONE HAS COME TO AN END.  CLEARLY, THERE IS A LOT ABOUT ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE THAT IS GOOD FOR US, BUT IT’S DEFINITELY NOT ALL GOOD NEWS WHEN IT COMES TO A.I.  IN ROUND TWO, NOAH GOES FIRST.  ALRIGHT NOAH, WHY IS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE BAD?

N:  WELL DAD, I SAID THAT COMPUTERS AND ROBOTS DON’T NEED TO TAKE SICK DAYS, BECAUSE THEY OBVIOUSLY CAN’T GET SICK.  THAT’S TRUE, BUT IT DOESN’T MEAN THAT THEY DON’T BECOME LESS EFFECTIVE OVER TIME.  ELECTRONIC DEVICES SURROUND US, WHETHER THEY ARE COMPUTERS, TABLETS, SMART PHONES, VIDEO GAMING SYSTEMS, AND SO MUCH MORE.  HAVE YOU EVER HAD A PROBLEM WITH ONE OF THESE DEVICES?  I BET YOU HAVE.  THAT’S BECAUSE COMPUTERS CAN BREAK AND THEY CAN MAKE MISTAKES, AND THEY CAN ALSO GET HACKED AND INFECTED BY THINGS LIKE COMPUTER VIRUSES.  IF COMPUTERS AREN’T WORKING PROPERLY, BIG MISTAKES CAN BE MADE.  

COMPUTERS WITH ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE ARE ALSO VERY EXPENSIVE, AND THEY NEED TO BE UPGRADED AND REPLACED FREQUENTLY.  IN MANY CASES, THE COST OF USING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN A BUSINESS IS MILLIONS OF DOLLARS.  ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE HAS THE POTENTIAL TO BE LESS EXPENSIVE THAN HUMAN LABOR, BUT THAT’S NOT ALWAYS THE CASE.

O:  NOAH, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE HAS ACTUALLY BEEN A GOOD THING FOR HUMAN WORKERS.  IT IS BEING USED TO DO VERY DANGEROUS JOBS, HELPING TO KEEP HUMANS AWAY FROM DANGER.  FOR EXAMPLE, ROBOTS ARE BEING USED IN JOBS THAT TAKE PLACE IN AREAS WITH HIGH RADIATION.  WHEN HUMANS ARE EXPOSED TO RADIATION, IT CAN MAKE THEM SICK AND PUT THEIR LIVES IN DANGER.  ROBOTS, ON THE OTHER HAND, CAN’T GET HURT FROM RADIATION.  

ALSO, ROBOTS HAVE BEEN REPLACING HUMANS THAT DO REPETITIVE WORK, FOR EXAMPLE, AS PART OF AN ASSEMBLY LINE.  THOSE JOBS CAN BE VERY BORING.  OFTEN TIMES, WHEN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IS USED TO PERFORM THESE REPETITIVE JOBS, IT FREES HUMAN WORKERS UP TO DO MORE CREATIVE JOBS THAT ARE FAR LESS BORING.  BY PERFORMING JOBS THAT ARE DANGEROUS AND REPETITIVE, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IS ACTUALLY A GOOD THING FOR HUMAN WORKERS.  

***BELL RINGS***

D:  THAT’S THE END OF ROUND TWO.  HAVE YOU ALREADY DECIDED WHETHER YOU THINK ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IS GOOD OR BAD?  IF YOU ARE STILL UNSURE, OLIVIA AND NOAH HAVE ONE LAST CHANCE TO CONVINCE YOU.  THEY ARE GOING TO TRY TO DO JUST THAT IN THE CLOSING ARGUMENTS.  THEY EACH HAVE ONE LAST CHANCE TO MAKE THEIR CASE BEFORE YOU VOTE AND LET US KNOW HOW YOU FEEL.  THEY BOTH HAVE 60 SECONDS, WHICH ISN’T A WHOLE LOT OF TIME, TO TRY TO SWAY YOU.  WE SPUN THE GREAT SIBLING SHOWDOWN WHEEL TO SEE WHO GOES FIRST, AND THE SPINNER LANDED ON NOAH.  ALRIGHT NOAH, YOU’RE UP.  WHEN I SAY “GO”, YOU’VE GOT A MINUTE TO LET US KNOW WHY YOU’RE RIGHT THAT ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IS BAD.  READY, SET, GO!

N:  ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE CAN’T, AND SHOULDN’T, TRY TO REPLACE HUMANS IN ANY WAY.  HUMANS HAVE EMOTIONS LIKE COMPASSION AND KINDNESS.  AS HARD AS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE CREATORS TRY, THEY HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO GET COMPUTERS OR ROBOTS TO HAVE EMOTIONS.  IT’S EXTREMELY IMPORTANT TO CONSIDER EMOTIONS WHEN SOLVING PROBLEMS AND MAKING DECISIONS.    

LET ME GIVE AN EXAMPLE.  LET’S SAY AN A.I. SYSTEM IS ASKED TO HELP SAVE AN ENDANGERED SEA CREATURE.  THE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE MIGHT DECIDE THAT ANOTHER SEA CREATURE NEEDS TO BE ELIMINATED IN ORDER TO SAVE THE SEA CREATURE.  EVEN THOUGH IT IS JUST DOING WHAT IT WAS TOLD, THE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IS NOW HURTING ONE SEA CREATURE TO HELP SAVE ANOTHER.  A HUMAN WOULD BE ABLE TO SEE THE PROBLEM WITH THIS, BUT A ROBOT, WITHOUT EMOTIONS, WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO SEE WHY THIS IS WRONG.  

O:  NOAH, WHAT YOU’RE SAYING IS TRUE, BUT USING EMOTIONS TO MAKE DECISIONS IS NOT NECESSARILY A GOOD THING.  THAT’S BECAUSE HUMANS HAVE THINGS CALLED BIASES WHICH PREVENT THEM FROM ALWAYS MAKING A FAIR DECISION.  

MAYBE SOMEONE WEARING A YELLOW SHIRT PUNCHED YOU BEFORE FOR NO REASON AT ALL.  EVEN THOUGH YOU MAY NOT REALIZE IT, YOU MIGHT NOT TRUST PEOPLE WEARING YELLOW SHIRTS AFTER THAT HAPPENED.  IS IT RATIONAL TO NOT TRUST PEOPLE WEARING YELLOW SHIRTS BECAUSE YOU GOT PUNCHED BY THAT ONE PERSON WHO JUST HAPPENED TO BE WEARING A YELLOW SHIRT?  NO, OF COURSE NOT.  THANKFULLY, COMPUTERS AND ROBOTS DON’T HAVE THESE KINDS OF BIASES, WHICH WOULD ALLOW THEM TO MAKE FAIR DECISIONS WITHOUT HUMAN BIAS.

***BELL RINGS***

D:  WOWSERS.  THE TWO OF YOU MADE WONDERFUL ARGUMENTS, AND I FEEL LIKE THE RESULTS OF THIS DEBATE ARE GOING TO BE SUPER CLOSE.  DID OLIVIA SHOW OFF HER INTELLIGENCE AND CONVINCE YOU THAT A.I. IS GOOD, OR DO YOU THINK HER ARGUMENTS WERE ARTIFICIAL, AND MAYBE YOU THINK THAT A.I. IS BAD?  HAVE YOU DEVELOPED AN ALGORITHM TO HELP YOU DECIDE HOW YOU FEEL ABOUT THE DEBATE?  AM I BEING SILLY WITH ALL OF THE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE PUNS?  DON’T FORGET TO LET US KNOW HOW YOU FEEL BY CASTING A VOTE.  ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS CLICK ON THE VOTING LINK IN THE SHOW NOTES.  VOTING ONLY TAKES A MINUTE OR TWO.  BEFORE WE SIGN OFF FOR THE WEEK, WE HAVE AMAZING LISTENERS TO THANK.

O:  WE WANT TO THANK MORRIS AND CASEY FOR THE 5 STAR REVIEW.

D:  IT SAYS “WE’VE LISTENED TO ALMOST ALL YOUR EPISODES.  I’M REALLY EXCITED ABOUT THE NEXT SIBLING SHOWDOWN.  I HOPE THIS IS IN YOUR NEXT EPISODE.”

N:  GUESS WHAT, MORRIS AND CASEY?  YOUR REVIEW IS TOTALLY IN THE EPISODE.  

D:  WE ALSO WANT TO THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR LISTENING TO NEARLY EVERY EPISODE OF THE PODCAST.  INCLUDING ALL OF THE EPISODES OF CURIOUS KID PODCAST, WE HAVE RELEASED 335 EPISODES, SO IT WOULD TAKE YOU A LONG TIME TO LISTEN TO ALL THE EPISODES.  JOIN US NEXT WEEK FOR SHOWDOWN #7 AS OLIVIA AND NOAH DEBATE WHETHER PEOPLE SHOULD BATHE OR SHOWER EVERY SINGLE DAY.  THAT DEBATE IS GOING TO BE A WHOLE LOT OF FUN.  AS ALWAYS, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR LISTENING TO OLIVIA AND NOAH DEBATE IN *** THE GREAT SIBLING SHOWDOWN***