In the previous blog, I described my first talk in Caratinga where I addressed how to transmit our faith to our kids in a technological era. It was a good way to break into the series of talks that followed.
The following day, I delivered a talk in the evening to a wider audience of students, professors and admnistrators of the university. After being introduced, I walked up to the stage with with sunglasses doing a robotic walk, to Information Society’s “What’s on Your Mind”. (Yes, I went there! For those old enough, who can forget Leonard Nimoy’s voice saying “Pure Energy” in the intro – it’s a classic. Also, I do remember that being a big hit in Brazil. What happened to all the great music of the 80’s and 90’s? That’s a topic for another blog.) For an introvert like me, that was a tremendous risk and one that that could have gone badly. Thankfully, the audience was gracious with my clumsy attempt waiting to hear what I had to share.
After outlining a short introduction to what Artificial Intelligence is I then moved on to examples of how it is changing relationships, jobs and religion. I wanted to audience distinguish between general and narrow AI and also the difference between replacement and augmentation. On relationships, I talked about the promises of algorithmic match making and shared the example of the virtual wife hologram, now available in Japan. For jobs, I talked about how many job functions would be affected noting that it would come not as in total replacement but in automating tasks. For fun, I shared the story of the robot run hotel in Japan where robots ended up being fired for annoying customers! In other words, AI changes would be more complex than what is portrayed in science fiction.
Finally, on religion, I shared a blessing from Robot Pastor with the audience. First, I assured seminarians that robot competition was not an issue for them. Instead, I encouraged those training for the ministry to view technology not as a threat but an ally to their efforts. Historically, religious leaders have often displayed knee-jerk resistance to new technologies. Could we react differently this time? I also mentioned how AI could amplify their efforts in counseling parishioners or even just getting their message out.
The main message of the talk was that narrow AI was coming to change our lives, how would we respond? I encouraged the audience to replace fear with courage, engaging AI with a broader view that seized on opportunities while monitoring risks. On the latter, I mentioned the perils of using face recognition for policing and how such uses required a broader democratic discussion from the civil society. Interestingly enough, after my talk, a local lawyer told me of a recent effort to coordinate camera footage from many areas in the town for law enforcement. I was not speaking of a distant future but of the here and now.
The question and answer time proved very thought provoking. The students asked insightful questions. One that impressed me was how far computers were from approaching the human brain capacity. Others asked more directly about how AI would hinder belief in God and religious adherence. In my view, the questions demonstrated some critical thinking and deep intellectual engagement with the topic. That is, the students were awake and listening. That is not always the case in events like these where they are required to go for class credit.
Maybe “pure energy” and a robotic walk was all it took to hook them in. Maybe not. Either way, my hope was to spark conversation on the topic. Judging by their questions, the dialogue had begun. In the 21st century, we are now all “Information Societies.”
