And sometimes we just forget for no reason or find ourselves unable to forget. If we let AI handle some of this, it would give us more control over those memories.
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Apple AI Expert Says Computers Should Augment Human Capabilities
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And sometimes we just forget for no reason or find ourselves unable to forget. If we let AI handle some of this, it would give us more control over those memories.
I'm hoping when Skynet shows up, it'll save us from TED talks, even if it has to exterminate us to do it.
I think there's a difference between forgetting sad thoughts or depressing events, and failing to log factual matters.
I agree it's useful to forget and move on past certain emotional states. But more data, of even mundane things, can help us make new discoveries and progress further.
Take for example body temperature. We know that 98.6F is roughly the "healthy" temperature of a person, but its not too useful as people differ and our temperature fluctuates often. Wouldn't it be more useful if you knew your personal average temperature for every day going back years? That way you can be alerted if all of a sudden the temperature changes outside your personal normal range. Wouldn't it be ever better if you knew your temperature by the minute going back years and years? A smart algorithm could predict you're about to get a cold the moment it notices your temperature rising at a higher rate than normal, accounting for environmental factors.
Or how about money? I think it would be great if every time I walked into a store I could be reminded of what I bought at this store in the past and how much I spent.
I think logging factual data provides the foundation for computers to really improve our lives. Personalized healthcare and shopping are just the tip of the iceberg.
That said, I agree it wouldn't be great if my phone reminded of deaths in the family or other horrible events. But I think there could be pretty good filtering for that kind of stuff.
One of the best episodes. A brilliant cautionary tale that perfectly demonstrates how technology is destroying our humanity.
This idiot Apple employee's comments also make me think of an episode of the Outer Limits (the 80s version) where everyone got an implant as a kid and no one learned how to read or write, because they could just download whatever information they needed from "the stream" (a global wireless data network). A small percentage of people couldn't have the implant and they were essentially ostracized. The main character lived in a crumbling library and could read. Everyone more or less ignored him. Then "the stream" started to malfunction and kill people with excessive downloads to the brain. No one knew how it worked anymore so no one could fix it. Humanity was completely dependent on the tech. Eventually it had to be turned off and the outcasts who couldn't have the implant were suddenly the most valuable members of society because they could read and actually retain information.
With or without computers, some people will have better memories than others. And computers aren't the only way to augment memory. Before computers were mainstream, people saved photos or love letters. They kept detailed journals. They smeared pigment on cave walls. Computers are just the latest artificial way to augment our memories.
I once had a brief affair after many years with someone I had known before. Because I had a journal of the first affair, I was prepared when the rematch went the same way. So close it was spooky.
I do understand what you're saying. If we remember everything exactly as it happened, we might realize that we are not the hero of our own story, and that is depressing. But I suspect we will come up with ways to filter our artificial memories just the way we do our natural ones.
"facial recognition features are not cross-device and do not sync over iCloud"
.... thus making the feature utterly useless
.... thus making the feature utterly useless
This is what I like about Apple - using tech in meaningful ways. Even if another company was to introduce some form of AI memory feature that was revolutionary, I know Apple would do it with more integrity.
None of what your describing sounds good... at all. At least to me it doesn't. We don't constantly know our body temp because we don't need to constantly know our body temp. The symptoms of a cold are your clue you're getting a cold. Multiple ailments exhibit similar conditions in the body. Abnormal temp could be a sign of a cold, the flu, or your house is on fire and you should probably find an exit.
Knowing how much you spent in a store would only really help you if pricing was somehow supposed to be static. @TheDetailsMatter hit the nail on the head with the mention of Black Mirror S1:E3. That unfortunately is a far more likely consequence of augmented memory.
Technology has become so depressing... Meanwhile:
Here’s Why Steve Jobs Didn’t Let His Kids Use iPads and Why You Shouldn’t Either
Here’s Why Steve Jobs Didn’t Let His Kids Use iPads and Why You Shouldn’t Either
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Maybe Apple should start by augmenting Tim Cook.
to look at it from another perspective, sometimes we are so busy in life that we forget everything that was important before, like people who have empowered or inspired you before, or happy moments that brought joy and meaning to our life.. we human tend to focus on negative feeling more than happy feeling, but having that reminder our life is not that bad after all could really help us to look forward to each day.
also, just my 2 cents.
Oh heck no!!!
I don't want to remember in full and clear detail that woman I took home in college.... 20 years later. I'd rather forget.
I don't want to remember in full and clear detail that woman I took home in college.... 20 years later. I'd rather forget.
Exactly. No way I am going to add/edit faces on my Mac, iPad and iPhone separately. Apple's facial recognition is pretty good but not good enough that you don't have to spend hours fixing what it gets wrong.
Weak AI is frequently pretty stupid intelligence...
At the same time, I'm not sure if I would like living in a world with full AI, as I'm not sure this would necessarily improve the state of humanity (it might not go as far as eliminating most purposes for existence, but it certainly would present several major moral dilemmas.)
That’s right, make everyone more mentally lazy and socially artificial than we already are. Worthwhile memories are formed from meaningful experiences. Legitimate relationships are earned. Not every acquaintance, nor every event, is significant. Why waste resources?
You could argue that augmented reality tools could someday aid persons with dementia. But it will be a huge challenge to pair someone with a tool that they don’t understand or that they distrust.
But if a person can't recall a memory that is presented to him/her, for example a face from decades ago, it's a "forgotten memory" that for all intents & purposes never existed. No amount of AI can turn that into a memory again. It's gone forever.
AI used this way could be and would be hacked to create "false memories".
Didn't anyone see Total Recall?
AI used this way could be and would be hacked to create "false memories".
Didn't anyone see Total Recall?
The point is you don't know what the data will show until you've collected it. We can guess all day long, but a lot of very useful medical discoveries (of which I am sure you are benefiting from today) were born out of a very large and detailed data set being collected. Beyond medical, it can also help urban planners design cities, or architects design buildings, or financial institutions to customize insurance, etc.
I used the cold example because it's one most folks can relate to, and its also immediately practical. With good data, the computer can notice patterns, such as that you wake up with a temp of between 96.7 and 96.9 every day, warm up to between 99.6 and 99.8 during a morning workout, cool down to between 98.2 and 98.4 by lunch, and end the day at between 98.9 and 99.1. None of this has be tracked by you, or even checked by you, it can be done in the background entirely; meaning you don't have to "know" it or be thinking about it at all.
It can notice an anomaly: say you wake up with a temperature of 97.4, flag raised. By lunch you're at 99.1. It's not something we would normally even know today, but it's a sign that you have a fever coming on (certainly not a house fire, else the smart smoke alarm would have noticed). Maybe it sends your phone a notification explaining that you might have a fever coming on, suggesting you eat a healthy meal, drink some herbal tea, and maybe plan for a few extra hours of sleep that night. By the time the symptoms of a cold are strong enough for you to notice on your own, it's too late. By that time, you're already past the cold and your body is fighting it off. But if you can know when one is coming on before the symptoms hit, you can at least attempt to nip it in the bud before it forces you to miss work.
It doesn't even have to be right or useful every time, as long as it's right or useful some of the time is fine. I remember some economists calculated that some very large number of US productivity in dollars is lost due to mundane cold and flu symptoms every year (I don't pretend to remember the number, but it was large, surprisingly very large). If this kind of automatic flag-raising and data-driven lifestyle advice can reduce loss of productivity by merely 5% (meaning 95% of the time it doesn't help the person defeat a cold early enough to not miss work), it would still increase US productivity by a huge amount.
All the while, the treasure trove of data could help researchers find links and causal connections between all sorts of diseases and symptoms that weren't evident before. Wouldn't it be useful if researched found a link between some easily-measurable vital sign and a disease that normally has a very long incubation period?
Ebola, for example, can have a very long incubation period (over a month sometimes), so it's very difficult to know when someone has it before they show noticeable symptoms, at which point it might be too late. However it would be very useful to get them treatment before the symptoms hit. Wouldn't it be wonderful if the data revealed some clues in a persons vital signs that are too small to be detected by a casual observer but which, as a pattern, always manifest weeks before Ebola is fully incubated in a human? Unfortunately because Ebola is pretty rare, links like these are impossible to find unless we have enormous mountains of data tracking tens if not hundreds of thousands of people for many years.
The ethical implications surrounding this is a pretty heavily debated topic within many social science circles...especially in regards to using augmented reality with those whom are unable to provide informed consent.
AR is making the Thomas Theorem more relevant today than it was nearly a century ago.
Exactly what I was thinking.
Meanwhile we are already well on the way to S1E1 (Nosedive) becoming reality.
Mike
What, like perhaps sterilise humans, to stop them breeding and infesting the planet?
Just as WE would with any other animal that act in the way humans do.
Or course, WE won't do that, as we are selfish humans, but an AI can see the bigger picture and start dealing with the Human Problem.
Just as WE would with any other animal that act in the way humans do.
Or course, WE won't do that, as we are selfish humans, but an AI can see the bigger picture and start dealing with the Human Problem.
