Lesson 5: Man vs. Machine In This Lesson + Learn how machines and computers have begun to replace the functions of human in the society + Appreciate the highly spirited character of legendary and non-legendary per- sonalities in resisting the dominance of machines in human society. + Identify movies that showcase the advantages and disadvantage of technolog- ical advancements in the society. i + Acquire a better understanding on how human should withstand all the dis- ruptions brought by fast advancement of technology s «+ Understand thoroughly the perils of artificial intelligence and how it would affect the society. : Over the decades, man has come up with several unique and resourceful inventions. ‘The computer and machines have begun to control and replace the important functions earlier performed by man. We have grown extremely dependent on artificial intelligence. However, itis widely believed that artificial intelligence cannot replace human intelligence, as man is the creator of machines. Human brain can work constantly and more efficiently to create and make use of something wisely. Humans are capable of learning, grasping, understanding the concept of various things. Humans are curious to discover and create new things. Humans are multi-talented whereas machines are not. Artificial intelligence is also created by human brains and their functions are limited. Machines are superior to humans in terms of speed and: accuracy. Calculators for ‘example work more accurately and speedily than human brains to make calculations. Human brain programs the functioning of any kind of machine. Human brains develop naturally by observing, experimenting, learning and discovering, but the improvement in machinery is possible only when its mechanical brain is fed by humans. Also, there is, no emotional intelligence in machines. Emotions play a major role in developing human. brain. ‘Thus, the capacity of machines is limited whereas humans are always experimenting, creating, inventing and discovering more and more (“Man vs Machine Essay” indiacelebrating.com). ‘Man vs Machine: The Latest Chapter is Just Starting . Our history and our literature show us that for most of human history machines were seen as tools to help people do more than they were capable of on their own. From simple stone tools to the inventions= Science, ability for 8 ar hand Bones ae ten ee Ce eee For thousands of years life and art mirrored each other in a 3 working together for the betterment of humanity. Man ie In the Industrial A Nie Indust | Revolution began to take hold, we saw a change to this paradigm. Now machines were a threat to the sconomic security of the newly formed working, class. Machines were no longer simply helping, People achieve more but also were now displacing, 2 great_ many workers. This new relationship between people and technology: created economic hardship tor the working class, The battle between man and machine began in life and in art. Perhaps the most famous real life battle between man and machine was the Luddite Rebellion of 1811-1813. While the movement was supposedly inspired by Englishman Ned Ludd’s smashing of textile stocking frames in 1779 it did take on a life of its own. The Luddites were skilled craftsmen, people who had spent a lifetime learning their craft. Itwas the economicand career model of the day wh here master craftsmen taught and Passed on their skills and knowledge to the next generation through apprenticeships, ‘The rebellion was led by textile workersin Nottinghamshire, Yorkshire and Lancashit England. The craftsmen had a number of concerns, m nany of which may sound familiar even today from decreasing wages to the inferior quality of ty soured farnil ity of the goods being luced by srachines: The eure vere netandjuted nin the apps Soe es Pree wool, were nearly all replaced by machines within 10 year of te rebellion Bee se rs ple ee te elo: rts a the early 1800 in England across inuaeaes ae See rorically dough i Parliament e reakin al offense. OF course there is more I : breaking’ i L ‘Conomic and political n today, stotical, ex context to Luddite movement, but it deserves study for p arallels that exist ever I no accident thet pesaps the mow fo aun developed diiring this time~ The Legend of John He chine story was {asteel driving man) worked for the C&O Rahway, helping lay Wee, 8008, John Fens Westward expansion of America John Henry was of legendary sige ts £0" the trains art feet tall and able to drive a rail spike with a single y size {As legend has it, one day a salesman brought a stea promised it could outperform the men crilling through ther ye ta ‘And with that sales pitch, one of the greatest muntains ‘man versus machine battles took place. It was a Simple race to see whether a man, John Henry or the machine could make the most progress, The machine worked tireless all day, but John Henry was not going to Tose to a machine, He kept at the work all day. By day's end John Henry emerged. victorious, then collapsed and died. The story is story of a man giving Se ci: ee coeall and emerging victorious is so compelling it’s been tumed into countless songs and even movies to this day. ae | ‘Man versus Machine in the 20th Century ___ As the 20th Century evolved so did the conflict and between man and machine in life and literature. We saw the evolution of industrialization from the Second Industrial Revolution to the Third Industrial Revolution, marked by computers and electronics further automating the means of production. Now computers could operate the machines and do the jobs of some people. Computers controlled robots on the assembly line doing everything from precision welding to assembling products. Of course, computers also enabled humans to do work that could not have been done before, spawning new jobs from space exploration to risk management. As jobs are automated we again see people in the labor force striking back against the machines in an effort to maintain their livelihood. The fight itself evolved during this time as workers were now represented by unions and many companies are no longer led by single individual but rather faceless shareholders creating an depersonalized, institutional “us versus them” dynamic, We see the conflict play out in a wide range of rom stories, but especially in science fiction as writers —aoanacan imagine how mew technologies can be used evil as well as good. George Orwell's 1984 examples how omnipresent TV's, for example, can be used to monitor citizens and Arthur C. Clarke's 2001 1A Space Odyssey shows the life and death struggle Of Dave and the H.A.L. 9000. Even Star Trektook on the issue, projected to its 23rd Century time, with” 3: the MS Multitronic System replacing all but 20 of @1~ the 430 crew members. During the episode Kirk's Superior office, Commodore Robert Wesley closes his comments to Kirk after a successful et ot the MS by referring to Kirk as Captain Dunsel. As Spock explains a duncel is a part of the ship that serves no useful purpose. Ultimately the M5 fails to correctly assess reats destroying an unmanned freighter and then attacking four star ships and must be disabled Fast forward another 20 years and we see new developments in technology and. creative ideas from science fiction. With the advent of personal computers, fiber optics and the intemmet new opportunities abound for people with the right skills. At the same time we also see a number of professions start to disappear — telephone operators and secretaries, for example. Isaac Azimov imagines a society with servant robots governed by the Three ‘ohws of Robotics, We also see stofles of the dark side of robots and other machines taking, ‘over, such as SkyNet in Terminator and The Matrix. In these stories the machines are not Simply taking, the place of workers, but are seeking to exterminate humans and replace them all together. Pee Shuts eohon St Poke Dna gers Mae conehimself conflict contains the man vs. machine. ct (or machine) ¥ 8. machine conflict, but also the man (or machine) Ve OTE tg ask. Man Versus ine Toda: Te eee ite ween increasing intelectual battles between man and machine, with the machines coming out the winners The computers’ victories famously come in the games of Jeapordy, Chess, Go, and others as computers like IBM's Watson and Googles DeepMind defeat human world champions in these games. These victories, however, come largely from brute force computations on computers taking up more space than a human brain. While significant steps in the development of artificial intelligence and machine learning, their limited capabilities leaving the being little more parlor tricks and trophies. ‘hon we look at Wetory we overall, there are intone disruptors." Dioruptions "can happen quichyy uch more 1 ee ont gencrations of prople, who lack the sila or knowle hearer ge ever simply been more skills raining: One veel ce ae oe: ee tum stim unto eerie opersioe by teaching them to operate ce ne a y listorically, some people are brougt ward with technol ar eae . to fend for themselves. Howy and others are left behind (Our imaginations, as shared through our literature-music insight in how people can adapt and move forward, Success comes hove Provides some understanding what is special about being you, being human and brine pom ination of forward rather than fighting the machines head on. The Luddites sero en st eniqueness: sething to slow the spread of technology and elimination of theiicee see mae aon che cost of is life. Thelr eHforts to fight the teeter oes JORN. po for many their livelihoods, families and even their lives. «SY Neel on wasted ti employers or customers. ‘ight people, whether While politicians and tech glants debate whether oF not Re inyour harele Technology Isadvancing faster than ever, Eve Rome burning, you future is in your hark eno ims tayo ne Busine ae eat are both creating, new opportunities: for those who know hy and initial coin offerings, ger come head on 5 well as threate rh aREverybody is a Genius. But from known competitors but can come from any Tf You Judge a Fish by Its desion, ‘ncuding, companies that seemingly Ability to Climb a Tree Te ease enna oe Will Live Its Whole Life but also to understand who you are. You cannot be Believing that It is Stupid anexpertinall thenew technologies, including the technologies in your own field. ~ Albert Einstein What if the story of man versus machine . is really the story of man versus himself? The challenge of being open to new possibilities and being vulnerable enough admit our weaknesses and fears and move forward with our strengths and hopes. Do you know your natural abilities, passion, and skills? Your economic well-being may rest on a seemingly silly question: Do you know if you area fish? yas (Boyer, 2018) Artificial Intelligence If you've been following eee term arti intligence was coined hye buzz around artificial in 1956, but Al has become more Popular jnpelfi intelligence lately, you may today thanks to increased data volumes, y i ty ti aigorithms, and improvements in Htave gotten the impression computing power and storage that machines will soon take any Al resenich in the 1950s explored world and destroy it topics ike problem solving. and. symbolic topics feta the 1960s, the US Department of Boyd R. (2015) methods In the 1960 this typeof work and began taining computers to mimic Defense took interes or example, the Delense Advanced Research Projects Agency rae eA) completed street mapping projects in the 1970s. And DARPA produced (DARPA) complet ‘tats 200, fong Before Sis, Alexa or Cortana wore household names. ‘This early work pat see in computers today, that can be designed t© “including decision support systems and smart search systems | ‘complement and augment human abilities. movies and science fiction novels depict Alashuuman-like robots anon ile Helywood neticctrent voltion ofA techoogies that ssnry oF | alte Sea ment, Aig ore Pave tae nfl cht tha Sart ns oem example of aca nehigence im healthcare mend more (AS, 2019) White Hollywood , Understanding the Perils of Artificial Intelligence Whenitcomesto the topicof Artificial Intelligence Sold is quite clearly divided into two (AD, the w te Moce who strongly believe that Alisa good factions: those who Chemently deny this. Whole Life Believing that It is thing and those Saved are the apprehensions, that is most ~ Albert Einstein Below commamnly debated and clubbed in three categories: Everybody is a Gents. But If You Judge a Fish by Its Ability wyed the way for the automation and formal reasoning that we | to Climb a Tree, W Will Live lis |Je and widely Scile Unemployment: This is probably the MOst OT and machines acknowledged of al the risks highlighted in the context of Al. Mo Toy about entire replacing humans for doing certain types of work isn’'tnew. VO" Ta trial Revolution Professions di ‘and even disappearing, due to technology: too had led to large scale job losses. A. Large-s arge conceded over the However, despite the fears around jobs, it was by and lare® tor en cated for last 3-4 centuries, that these technological advancements Ore EEN ica, short-term job losses, by means of creating new avenues, OWNS TT ng, often wages et, Unemployment, particulary ata lrge scale 62 Ye) Pere crefore calls resulting in widespread civil unrest, Al's potential impact in De for very careful politcal, sociologial and economic thinking, to counter it effectively. ne of those things that one would have 5. Singularity: The concept of Singularity is one of those SNOB OTe ineory, today imagined seeing only in the pages ofa futuristic van civilization itis a real possibility. In a nutshell, Singularity refers to that pointi Pe eesives pe When Artificial Intelligence reaches a ipping point beyond which it evolves into super-intelligence that surpasses human cognitive powers, thereby potentially posing a threat to human existence as we know it today. While the idea around this explosion of machine intelligence is a very pertinent and widely discussed topic, unlike the case of technology driven unemployment, the concept remains primarily theoretical. There is no clarity yet on two main questions around this line of thought, ie. : C. Machine Consciousness: Unlike the previous two points, which can be regarded as risks associated with the evolution of.Al, the aspect of machine consciousness perhaps is best described as an ethical conundrum. The idea deals with the possibility of implanting human-like consciousness into machines, taking them beyond the realm of ‘thizking’ to that of “feeling, emotions and beliefs’. Its. a “complex topic and requires delving into an amalgamation of philosophy cognitive science and neuroscience. ‘Conscionseee il! can be interpreted in multiple ways, bringing together a plethora of attributes like sell wareness, cause-effect in mental tates, memory, experiences ete To bring machines toa state of humanclike consciousness would entail replicating sil te eee eg happen at a neural level in a human brain—by no means a mesger tank nt eee SRA atm i a that guides the way people interact with each other. This system will aca ee sein era ee Nun eter ha Fo a eee neces “ rection in which we move tint comes io Aland machine consciousness While things ae sain ne phase so to speak. igarchy: Or to put it differently, the question of control Du 4 D, lig to pli ere tn of tl ue he ey nae oF sintically only a handful of organizations (private or BY and science there are ‘Sovernment) that can make the aeleap into taking AI into the mainstream, in a scalable manner, and across a vast array of appl ‘Add to this the fact that one of the most critical components of developing Al is continuous feedback and learning that comes from having the most amount of data to get feedback or learn from. Itis a self-fulfilling virtuous cycle — the more data you have, the better your AI platform(s), resulting in more users adopting your AI platforms) and you getting even more data for more learning. Who do you think would win that race? Again, only a handfal of organizations possibly could. There is going to be very Ute root for aval upstart, however smart they BMD 0 compete at scale against Given the mammoth portions of our lives that will likely be steered by Al enabled machines, those who control that ‘intelligence’ will hold immense power over the rest of us, That all familiar phrase ‘with great power, comes great responsibility’ will take a whole new meaning —the organizations and/or individuals that are at the forefront of the generally available Al applications would likely have more power than the most despotic autocrats in history. This is a true and real hazard, aspects of which are already becoming areas of concern in the form of discussions around things like privacy (Prakash, 2017).