ChatGPT, AI, and the Crazy Future That Already Happened: James Skinner (Transcript)

Here is the audio, transcript, and summary of James Skinner’s talk titled “ChatGPT, AI, and the Crazy Future That Already Happened” at TEDxBorrowdale conference.

Listen to the audio version here:

TRANSCRIPT:

James Skinner – AI Educator

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to today’s TEDx Talk, where we will embark on a thrilling journey to explore the astonishing world of artificial intelligence, or AI. My name is James Skinner, but the image you are seeing, the voice you are hearing, the text of my speech, the background music for this presentation were all created by AI and brought to life by cutting edge AI technology.

During our brief time together, we’ll dive into the fascinating realm of AI chat software and the crazy future that has just unfolded right before our eyes. Get ready to witness how AI has transformed the way we communicate, learn, and work, blurring the lines between human and machine intelligence. And fasten your seatbelts as we delve into the mind-boggling innovations and possibilities that AI has unlocked, forever changing the landscape of our lives.

Let’s begin.

Imagine walking into a bookstore and discovering that the number one bestselling book was written by a machine and not by a human. This is exactly what happened to me as I was preparing this talk during my recent stay in Tokyo. The seemingly impossible reality is our present, and it marks the beginning of a new chapter in human history as well as human-machine collaboration.

I’m sure you have many questions. You may be asking yourself, what does it mean to live in a world of intelligent machines? Can machines actually replicate or even surpass human creativity and originality? How will the widespread adoption of AI transform our economy, workforce, and job market? And most importantly, will my life be better or will it be worse?

And what will the lives of my children be like?

Tsukuba International Expo 1985

In 1985, I was employed by the U.S. State Department and tasked with introducing and demonstrating U.S.-based AI technology to Japan and the world from within the futuristic U.S. pavilion at the Tsukuba International Expo. Our pavilion, adorned with cutting-edge technology, attracted visitors from all walks of life, including one very special guest in particular, Emperor Hirohito of Japan.

As the emperor’s arrival approached, the atmosphere was electric with tight security measures in place to ensure his safety. Secret service personnel with submachine guns were stationed strategically. Regular police officers monitored every major intersection within a five-kilometer radius, and a dense line of law enforcement created a human barrier at a 100-meter perimeter surrounding the pavilion.

Decked out in our bright red space-age jumpsuits, we awaited the emperor’s arrival with a mixture of anticipation and excitement. As he entered, it was my honor to demonstrate for him what at the time was a groundbreaking AI system capable of composing original classical music. The emperor, an accomplished scientist himself, watched with keen interest as the system set to work, composing a Baroque fugue right there in front of us.

When it had finished, it flashed the score on the computer screen and filled the pavilion with the melodic harmony of the AI-generated composition, which seemed to transport us to another time and place, leaving a deep impression on everyone present. As the final notes of the fugue echoed throughout the pavilion, Emperor Hirohito stared at the screen, utterly astonished.

His eyes widened, and in a moment of profound realization, he uttered a single word that encapsulated the marvel of the experience, haaaa. This encounter, a meeting between the emperor, an AI composer, and myself, illustrated and underscored the vast potential of AI, not just as a tool for crunching large quantities of data, but as something that could be creative in many of the same ways we are.

In short, machines could be intelligent. They could generate new things on their own. They could go beyond just doing what they were explicitly told to do.

[AI Machines Speaking]

Early AI focused on rule-based expert systems. The idea was that whenever you make a decision, you use a series of rules. For example, a doctor trying to diagnose an illness might ask if you have a fever. Then based on your yes or no answer, she might ask if you feel pain in your joints or if you have a rash. And following this decision tree of yes or no answers, the doctor will eventually conclude that you have the flu and should go home, rest, and get plenty of fluids.

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Once we understood the decision tree in detail, we could program those instructions into a computer and young or inexperienced doctors could use the system to get a diagnosis as accurate as the best doctors in the field.

This approach, however, ultimately failed. The reason is simple. For the most part, we don’t know why we make the decisions we make. Why did you get the chocolate ice cream? It looked yummy. This is not something we can then program into a computer.

But from the late 1990s, as computer power advanced, we took a different approach. We decided not to try programming the computer at all. Instead, we would set up the computer so that it could learn. This ushered in the age of machine learning. The idea was to show the computer lots of data and have it make guesses. For example, we could show the computer a photo and ask it to identify the animal in the picture.

The computer might guess that it’s a dog. A human operator would then give it the correct answer, say in this case, a cat. The computer would then alter its algorithms on its own to try and be more accurate. This approach led to many miraculous things, such as recommendations on e-commerce websites, autonomous driving, identification of people you might know on social media, facial recognition, and more.

But now we have moved beyond that. We are now in an age of generative AI. We are now in an age in which AI can talk, and read, and write.

Imagine a person who has read everything ever written. Imagine an artist that has looked at every picture ever painted. Imagine a composer who has listened to all the music ever recorded. And then imagine that this unbelievable person works for you. I want you to get some sense for the vast breadth of what this now allows for.

Let’s have another AI. Tell us some of the things that AI is now capable of.

Here are just a few of the things that I am now capable of: Autonomous driving, robot navigation, flying fighter jets, reading, writing, and speaking in multiple languages, optical character recognition, converting speech to text, foreign language translation, writing and debugging computer programs, creating art, photographs, or even videos based on verbal descriptions, rotoscoping, composing music, writing lyrics, singing, and performing, cleaning up audio through audio source separation, drafting and checking contracts, creating business plans and budgets, carrying out customer service function through chat bots, product recommendations, inventory forecasting, stock market prediction, facial, fingerprint, iris, and voice recognition, lip reading, handwriting recognition, sentiment and emotional analysis based on text or facial expression, fraud detection, creating textbook, acting as a tutor, grading papers and essays, detecting plagiarism, anomaly detection, medical diagnosis, drug discovery, protein folding prediction, weather forecasting, traffic prediction, playing games such as chess and Go, creating new games, acting as a virtual assistant, and having conversations like this one.

AI Rewrites The Story Of The Three Little Pigs

I asked AI to rewrite the story of the three little pigs with a very high level of creativity. Here is what I got:

Once upon a time in a land of swirling mist and cotton candy clouds, there lived three peculiar pigs, each with their own aspirations and dreams. Their names were Fluffington, Trufflebeard, and Zephyr. These sibling swine sought to build their own homes to escape the monotony of their daily routine and make their marks on the world.

Fluffington, the eldest pig, had an obsession with candy. He decided to create a home entirely made of sweets, with licorice walls, gumdrop roofs, and lollipop doorways. He was convinced that the sugar-coated fortress would be a delight to live in and entice visitors from far and wide.

Trufflebeard, the middle pig, was a lover of nature and a gardener extraordinaire. He envisioned a home made from botanical wonders with walls of thick vines and ivy, a roof of lily pads, and a carpet of velvety moss. He felt certain that this harmonious abode would help him become one with the earth and maintain balance within the universe.

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Lastly, Zephyr, the youngest pig, was a dreamer and a tinkerer. He was enamored with the concept of flight and designed his home to be made of clouds and feathers. He planned to build the house atop the tallest peak in the land, allowing him to be closer to the sky and further his studies in aerodynamics.

I think you will quickly find that AI is indeed truly creative and, in fact, much more so than most people.

What about art? Look at these pictures. They are impressive by any standard, but the most impressive thing is something you might not guess. They were all created by AI following the instructions of other AIs.

What about music? (Music) I was recently invited to the United Nations in New York City to speak about AI. Many of the people who attended were concerned about the risks posed by AI.

Risks Posed By AI

As we move forward into this amazing future, I want to highlight three of those risks. One, AI will certainly disrupt a very large number of jobs. Most estimates show that 25% to a third of all jobs are at risk of disruption. This is particularly true of good-paying, white-collar jobs. While long-term, more jobs will certainly emerge. The short-term disruption will present a major challenge.

Two, things will happen much faster than in the past. Many people are already overwhelmed by the speed and pace of change, but that is about to accelerate. How will we keep up?

And number three, our education system is simply not prepared to keep up. Right now, if you attend a traditional school 12 to 16 years, you will most likely graduate not being able to do a single thing that AI cannot do better, faster, and cheaper. The entire education system we have constructed must be scrapped and reimagined from the ground up. But at the same time, we have an amazing opportunity.

Opportunities

You are now 100 times more powerful than you were before. What will you use this newfound power for? You have three choices. You can create a larger volume and quantity of output than ever before. You can do everything at a much higher quality than ever before. Or you can simply do everything faster and have time available for other things.

If you are wise and choose to join this revolution instead of resisting it, it will improve your life beyond imagination. The promise of AI is to make us healthier, wealthier, more deeply connected, and to have a life that is more meaningful because we are finally freed from the mundane. What will this AI-powered future mean for you?

In closing, I have three calls for action. If you are still listening and you want to succeed and flourish in this new world, one, do not underestimate this revolution. You do so at your extreme peril. These new tools such as chat and large language models are much more than entertainment or amusement. They are transformative in, say, the way that agricultural or industrial or information revolutions were transformative, maybe even more so.

These tools will democratize intelligence and knowledge, and we have no idea what society looks like when that happens.

Two, learn to use these tools right now. Start using these tools in your work. Use them at home. Play with them. Experiment. But use them often. And finally, think about this. The most powerful chess player in the world right now is not a machine. It is not a computer. It is a team of humans and machines working together.

I want to close this presentation with a rap song. This song is a collaboration between multiple AIs and humans, but can you tell which is which?

[Rap Song]

A.I. King. Master of the game. Tech’s always in the city. He knows the machines better than the rest. When it comes to A.I., baby, he’s the best. Writing digital waves with true finesse. Decoding algorithms, leaving others depressed. He’s a code alchemist. And he’s flipping the script. A.I. innovator, man, he is fully equipped. Heyo, gather round, let’s spin a tale. Of an A.I. future we’re about to unveil. Boosting our lives, no dream too far. Health, love, money, time, we’ll raise the bar.

First off, it’s held down. Changing the game. Predicting disease. We live by the name. With precision medicine, it’s in the care. We’ll conquer illness. It’s only fair. And in the realm of love, A.I. and A.I. die. Finding that connection, no need to hide. Making matches, our hearts intertwine.

Soon they discover, love redefines. Yeah, and when it comes to money, A.I.’s bringing the green. Automation tasks, it’s all done by the machines. Yeah, financial freedom, no debts to take. Living our dreams, each and every day. A.I. helps us find the meaning, our goal. Finishing our purpose, A.I.’s playing its role.

Unleashing potential, never retold. A life with A.I., now we’re on a roll. So here’s to the future, the A.I. revolution. Improving our lives, the ultimate solution. A world with endless possibilities, it’s true. The future of A.I., me and you.

Want a summary of this talk? Here it is.

SUMMARY:

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In James Skinner’s thought-provoking TEDx Talk titled “ChatGPT, AI, and the Crazy Future That Already Happened,” he leads the audience through a captivating exploration of the profound impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on our lives. Skinner immerses us in a world where AI is not just a futuristic concept but a revolutionary force that has transformed the way we communicate, learn, and work.

Skinner begins by highlighting the astonishing capabilities of AI in generating content, including his own presentation’s text, voice, and even background music. He introduces the concept of AI chat software and its role in blurring the boundaries between human and machine intelligence. He underscores the awe-inspiring potential of AI, demonstrating how it can replicate human creativity and originality in fields such as art, music, and literature.

The talk delves into the history of AI, tracing its evolution from rule-based expert systems to machine learning and generative AI. Skinner emphasizes how the paradigm shift toward machine learning has empowered AI to learn and adapt from data, propelling us into an age of generative AI where machines can engage in conversations, write, and create art.

Skinner acknowledges the concerns surrounding AI’s societal impact, particularly regarding job disruption, the rapid pace of change, and the need to overhaul education systems. He urges the audience not to underestimate the transformative potential of AI, likening its impact to the monumental shifts brought about by previous revolutions. He encourages embracing AI tools, as they democratize intelligence and knowledge on an unprecedented scale.

Furthermore, Skinner addresses three key risks associated with AI: the disruption of jobs, the accelerated pace of change, and the inadequacy of traditional education systems. He offers a call to action, advocating for proactive engagement with AI tools, adaptation to the changing landscape, and a recognition of the collaborative synergy between humans and machines.

The talk concludes with a creative rap song that encapsulates the optimism and possibilities of AI. Skinner envisions a future where AI contributes to enhancing healthcare, relationships, financial freedom, and personal growth. He leaves the audience with a challenge to recognize the unique opportunity at hand – a chance to harness AI’s potential to create a healthier, wealthier, and more meaningful existence.

In essence, James Skinner’s TEDx Talk delivers an eye-opening account of AI’s astonishing present and its transformative potential in shaping our future. His engaging narrative, supported by concrete examples, underscores the profound influence of AI and inspires us to embrace this technological revolution for the betterment of our lives.