Occasionally - OK, frequently - I read or hear something about something that completely catches my attention and brain, both of which may have been permanently frozen - even damaged - in junior high, (That's what it was called in my "day") which also may explain my total comfort and delight teaching middle school students for most of my educational career and has aided me in instructing and leading adults for most of my adult life.
Yesterday, on NPR's "All Things Considered", one of the regular contributors, Mr. Adam Frank, did a piece on the death of one John McCarthy, professor emeritus at Stanford University, who is known as the father of artificial intelligence. No academic slouch himself, Mr. Frank is an astrophysicist at the University of Rochester, thus making him perhaps more qualified to discuss artificial intelligence than a retired middle school band director.
Yet I am not deterred.
Quoting Mr. Frank, "Artificial intelligence has become such a standard part of culture that I
can refer to it by its initials, A.I., and you know what I'm talking
about. But the possible consequences of developing an intelligent
self-aware machine are just as familiar. If I say "robot overlords," you
will still know what I mean." I post this quote to inform Mr. Frank that by simply saying "AI", one's mind does not necessarily go immediately to "artificial intelligence".
Another well-known "AI" is artificial insemination and, depending on what your profession is or who you hang with, artificial insemination may well be a more recognized term than artificial intelligence. While Ancora Imparo is not the place to delve into the gory details of artificial insemination, let me just say that in the medical community, AI is more commonly referred to as "human reproductive technology". But, wait......AI first began in animal husbandry, primarily with dairy cattle and pigs - bovines and porcines, to be exact - with that research eventually benefiting humans. I personally know three individuals who have become world-reknown, and wealthy as well, because of their success in the animal AI world.
So, Mr. Frank, please be careful when making blanket statements like "you know what I'm talking about", because your AI and other peoples' AI are two totally different concepts, neither one of which is particularly pleasant to think about but both are facts of our modern world....................perhaps even not that unrelated.
There is yet a third AI and that would be this blog, Ancora Imparo
No need to restate it.
