~ by Alan Dupont. Originally published in The Australian on 26th October, 2024
Once the preserve of technology geeks, artificial intelligence has gone mainstream resulting in an explosion of digital and virtual capabilities. These range from the helpful personal assistants on our digital devices and the mapping of more than 160,000 new virus species, to troubling “deep fakes” that are impossible to detect with the naked eye.
OpenAI’s ChatGPT has helped democratise AI but raised many questions about the technology’s value and impact. Will it be genuinely transformational and a boon to society as advocates proclaim boosting productivity, creating undreamed of prosperity and liberating us from life’s drudgeries? Or are the naysayers right – that its promise is over-hyped and the risks potentially catastrophic without guardrails and humans in the loop?
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