217. What do we actually know about AI?

This season, every episode of OMG focuses on a question that directors really need to answer.
OMG is written, produced, narrated and scored by Matt Fullbrook.
 
TRANSCRIPT
Question #15: What do we actually know about AI? Let me be clear: this question is not the same as “have we all used ChatGPT?” It’s also not “Do we know how to provide useful prompts to chatGPT?” Or anything directly about ChatGPT or its competitors at all. At least not necessarily. Instead, the substance of this question is “what do we know about how AI works, how it could work, about its potential applications, and what might it take to deploy those applications?” There’s a reason why people who really do understand AI are hugely divided when it comes to how dangerous it’s likely to be, how disruptive it will be and to whom and when. They don’t agree on what applications of AI will most improve or harm people’s lives. So, let’s not pretend that your board is gonna solve all that. But still, even ChatGPT and other large language models are already better and faster certain useful tasks than people who’ve spent their lives getting good at doing those same tasks. We can get more than passable essays, emails, images, songs, speeches, etc. in seconds basically for free. AI is also really good at pattern-based learning that lets it do cool stuff like reviewing medical imaging even better than people. Better, even, than pigeons, who are also better than people at reviewing medical imaging. True story! But none of that is about how AI works, or how it could work, or how it might be useful to you or your company or its customers. Your board may not easily find the answers to any of those questions at first. Some of them might have no real answers other than what you gain through trial and error, or experimentation. But let’s get back to the actual question at hand: What do we actually know about AI? The answer might be “nothing at all!” Even that’s a better starting point than not talking about it. But get moving!