I find it annoying that people like Tom Gruber working on a big problem like AI talk glowingly about what the future might bring in terms of capabilities but never talk about potential unintended consequences. Nobody in the past speaking glowingly about the future of the Internet mentioned terrorist recruitment videos on YouTube, fake news sites built in the Ukraine spewing garbage about a candidate for president to profit on ads clicked on by gullible true believers, ransomeware, persistent cookies, etc.
I didn't find any of the powers Tom Gruber spoke so enthusiastically about in this video to be things I want. No I don't want a database in the cloud of every person I've ever met with their family and friends info and I sure don't want every person I ever meet to have my name and family info in their database.
When I was young you had to be at the bank by 3pm if you needed to withdraw money, today I wave my applewatch in front of a small device to pay for goods and services, I carry a phone and travel maps and books and a bizzillion songs in my pocket. All great. I believe the future will bring cool powers too but I also wonder about how the unexamined dark consequences will work out. I'm feeling pessimistic because these guys working their hearts out to make it happen aren't thinking about and talking to us about the potential for malicious misuse.
Old school sensibilities never fail. I'm in the same concerned thoughts as you, yet being a Gemini true to core I can see both angles until it hurts.
For example:
You know from your early childhood it seemed ok to let kids roam in the playground close to home without watching them. This is due to them listening more and the core values and awareness we/you as parents previous to generation X taught them, along with the age old 'buddy system" (awareness and safety in numbers). Today I'd have no faith of even a 12yr old being as wise and aware as I was at 6 - (I'm born in early 70's).
Yet, consider the bolded paragraph above. Sure WE as people don't care to know the random people we've met ... BUT consider for a moment:
Drunk night with close friends at a club or bar (you or your young adult children and their friends). Whomever goes, recognizes an odd tiny squabble out the corner of your eye and you glance. Leaving such public party establishment a female in that squabble you noticed is being helped into a cab by someone, no face seen. Next day you wake up and splattered on the news an absolute worst occured to that female - non of her friends/family attented that establishment. No camera feeds picked up anyone of interest, police investigating requesting anyone with information. What if that random glance you made could've ID'd a potential suspect whom later with evidence was the assailant that caused the worst to her?
Amber alert while your on public transit to work ... random .75 second glance ... but your enhanced human integrated AI captured the picture and information clearly. On your way home you see a child back of tinted truck/van just a face ... you for the life of you don't know why but you ask yourself ... why do I think that child is familiar? remember .75 second glance ... the AI knows feeds you information, records the plate then enhances your ability to recall and BOOM you make the emergency call to the cops. That child is rescued and saved from a serial rapist and killer. You also saved the lives of many potential kids as cops have been tracking said disgusting putrid low life for months!
You're suffering from Alzi... you have a family picnic and go for a walk now you're lost in your home town scared worried and embarrased. You can now with human assisted AI find your way back home!
Human memory is flawed even wtih a little bit of time, and especially when recalling the facts during police investigation.
There is a great need. But it's up to great policy makers, people being wize and hold true their right to privacy to protect themselves ... that will never nor should change!
