Soulful Sundays: Invention

“A problem well defined is a problem half solved.” -Unknown

Gordon Moore was one of the original creators of Intel and a pioneer in the world of semiconductors and microchips. In 1975 he published a revised theory based on a decade of observations--the number of transistors in an integrated circuit doubles every two years. That means that the potential processing power of computers also doubles. Originally just a description of the developments in computing during his career, the so-called Moore's Law still stands today. Technology continues to grow exponentially in its power and complexity. Have we humans been able to keep up?

The rapid growth in hardware capability paved the way for breakthroughs in fields like artificial intelligence (AI). Just in the last ten years, advances in AI (ChatGPT, Siri, algorithmic learning, etc.) have completely revolutionized the reach of technology. Our power grid, our supply chains, our media, and our educational and financial institutions--essentially our whole culture and economy--have all been shaped by this new force. And there is no end in sight. The machines will continue to learn as long as we use them. What are we choosing to learn from them?

Did we create AI to solve our problems or was it a product of experimentation? The answer is a bit of both. If necessity is the mother of invention, then innovation must be its father. The human mind has evolved to seek novelty. Over the millions of years that we have been evolving on this earth we have also been creating solely for the sake of creation itself. A percentage of the technologies that we made stuck around because they were more useful than those that perished. In other words, we didn't invent all technology to survive. Sometimes it was just for fun. Art is the perfect example of "useless" innovation that is absolutely essential for human thriving. Artificial intelligence might be another.

What is really fascinating about AI is that its source material is 100% human derived. Its algorithms draw exclusively from what humans have created, which includes both well vetted sources and no small amount of contradiction. For this reason, the early AIs (those created just a few years ago) were actually pretty dumb and made a lot of mistakes. Now, thanks to advances predicted by Moore's Law, the latest versions outshine their predecessors and far surpass any current human intelligence. AI has become, strangely more innovative than its creators, but it still lacks a crucial component--direction.

The prompt that ChatGPT provides to its users is "Ask anything." This strikes to the core of the human condition. We are the only ones (at least for now) who are directing the questions. We are still the prime movers. We are responsible for keeping the wheel in motion. Without good questions, there cannot exist good answers. Period. Whether or not we use AI to help us find them is totally up to us. It isn't going away any time soon and will only continue to improve. The more that we feed it, the more it can feed us in return. We mustn't become complacent just because the machines can make certain parts of our lives easier. Responsibility ultimately belongs in our hands. What will we choose to give our attention to?