AI, AI OH?

I make no apology for my cheesy title; it is a contemporary re-working of a traditional children’s song:  Old MacDonald had a farm; AI AI Oh. And yes, I thought it up all by myself! No AI involved—a product of my own warped imagination, more attuned to poetic scansion than content-rich technical analysis. You must admit that It is catchy however; you may find yourself singing it before bed or when you rise in the morning.

I have only engaged with AI for three days now—I am no expert. I remain curious however, so when a faithful reader of these blogs suggested one particular AI  tool, Perplexity, (highly touted by the New York Times no less) I jumped at the opportunity, as did NYT author Kevin Roose:

Perplexity. The year-old search engine, whose founders previously worked in A.I. research at OpenAI and Meta, has quickly become one of the most buzzed-about products in the tech world.

It’s news to me that ChatGPT is not the only AI option now available. In truth, every day new products, options and features appear, some free, and some costing around twenty dollars a month. According to techradar.com there are many AI writing assistants on the market, competing with ChatGPT to become the king of AI-powered writing tools. These new tools aim to simplify the writing process by generating long-form content, researching keywords, creating images from text, and more.

I remember when years ago an IT specialist first told me about Google. (Where were you when you first met your now constant online friend and guide?) He said to watch Google; “They will soon be the world’s leader for internet access” he said. His prophecy came true: “Google” is now a verb! The technology dominates the online world . . . but for how long? Will AI replace Google, or how will Google incorporate AI. Just ask Kevin Roose:

Perplexity isn’t perfect, but it’s very good. And while I’m not ready to break up with Google entirely, I’m now more convinced that A.I.-powered search engines like Perplexity could loosen Google’s grip on the search market, or at least force it to play catch-up . . . When you ask a question, Perplexity doesn’t give you back a list of links. Instead, it scours the web for you and uses A.I. to write a summary of what it finds. These answers are annotated with links to the sources the A.I. used.

At one time we went to a library, query in hand to search reference books—dictionaries and encyclopedias, assisted by friendly reference librarians, those familiar  with card catalogues, later microfiche readers, then clunky online portals with funny green screens, and now, Google searches on phones smarter than we are. We are now crossing a new threshold with AI. It not only searches for source material—as text, imagery, and who knows what next? It does not simply point us in the right direction. It produces a summary, a composition even, worthy of an undergraduate student essay.

At the very least AI is another starting point for an enquiry, not of a dissertation size or dimension, but a product truly amazing, though with a few significant faults. The content generated may require additional editing to ensure it’s polished and accurate. AI-generated content may also lack the unique voice and style a human writer can provide.

The chief concern is accuracy. If AI discovers content, it cannot assess accuracy. One can rely on a published dictionary or encyclopedia, even when accessed online. Wikipedia is a little more dodgy but articles are constantly updated and correction must be verified. Google links you to certain places though searches are influenced by SEO (search engine optimization) calculations. So proceed with caution and an appropriate dose of skepticism. Possibly the only thing I remember from my high school Law 11 class is caveat emptor (buyer beware). If AI is here to stay, which it is—this genie is out of the bottle for good and for ill—educators, preachers, politicians, technicians, care-givers, writers, photographers, and musicians—we all need to learn how to use this new tool.

So what’s next? Possibly you are interested in the offerings listed at the Perplexity.AI  hub. I don’t yet understand many of the features named there; they may however become standard fare in just six months’ time. The standards of global capitalism define the direction of development: more speed; use optimization; more effective searches; security management; non-textual development including imagery, speech identification and access. There is no limit to what may appear.

While I see many advantages to this technology, it will thankfully never replace my own creativity, and hopefully yours. So AI, AI OH to you and yours.

(This blog will quickly become searchable, so in two weeks’ time search for “Ken Gray; blog; AI.” Let me know what you discover. 😊