Having just updated my iPhone/iPad to v18.3, I find myself yet again being invited to join the throng and experience the advantages of Apple Intelligence. And yet, upon clicking the invitation banner, I find myself staring at the dreaded word Beta.
Why on earth would I indulge Apple’s devops requirement by loading a major piece of software that promises to change my life BEFORE ITS FINISHED? This isn’t some trivial little app that can be wiped away if it fails to live up to its promise, but what, we are informed, will become a major influence on our daily lives.
Given the recent furore regarding DeepSeek’s collection of personal information, why would Apple and Google’s implementations be any different?
“Beta” is a sure which connotes a working version being tested before a final version. However, in software it’s the case that all software, no matter what version, is effectively “Beta”. Your Naim app will have bugs and fixes being worked on as I type. These will be tested in various ways and yet, with the best will in the world, the next version will have bugs which need fixing and so on. In software it can be a useful word if you are a “beta tester” but the fact such testers can hold said role for years over many versions speaks for itself.
For me then the word “Beta” here is just a caveat that this stuff is as new as it is for everyone else and a heads up that it will have failings. In itself though it’s not a reason to turn it off.
Some people will think this stuff is wonderful and innovative but we’re my phone new enough to have the option I’m confident I’d be turning it off for a variety of reasons.
In reality the actual impact of AI is not being made apparent to the general population. I guess most are unaware of how this technology is going to impact their lives (for good or bad).
The real challenge will be dealing with the mass unemployment that will follow. So many jobs can be replaced from radiographers to receptionists that it’s going to be a very different world. Finally mankind may be liberated at large from the toil of labour 5 days a week, but that will only be a good thing if we evolve into a society of universal basic income funded by taxation of the corporations and billionaires who will profit from lower or almost zero manpower costs. I expect them to put up one hell of a fight against this!
For example if Elon Musk is able to fully automate his factories, his dealerships, his sales and distribution and even maybe his design and innovation functions I don’t see him readily agreeing to paying more tax so the masses can sit at home not working. On the other hand if he doesn’t who is going to be able to buy his cars?
Airbus for example are already running a project to evaluate single crew airliners, it’s not going to happen in my flying career (I’m nearly 56) but it’s going to seriously affect future pilots. It was only a couple of decades ago when there were 3 or 4 pilots/navigators on every civilian flight deck.
The second industrial revolution is beginning and I’m far from convinced we are ready to deal with the consequences so it’s going to be interesting for sure.
Clearly the changes coming in what has been called the Fourth Industrial Revolution will be both broad and deep. But will the transformation be any greater than brought by the first revolution? Just think what happened in the late eighteenth century when long-established working practices, and so much more, were swept away. Acceptance was hard won (Luddites) and took many decades. I suspect the current ‘revolution’ will bring about equally profound changes.
I’m inclined to go with the John Naughton view that at the moment it collects a lot of data; is going to increasingly become mired in copyright disputes and nobody knows what it’s really for. Given the black box, unaccountable nature of it, it’s very unlikely to result in mass anything let alone redundancies but in the end it will simply become usefully assimilated into many areas. Naughton highlights spreadsheets as a comparable example. Intended to end so much drudgery; revolutionise the workplace and yet now it’s just a small thing of use in limited circumstances.
It’s an issue it’s very easy to get wrong and we do constantly. See AI Gone Wrong: A List of AI Errors, Mistakes and Failures. The thing which gives it perspective for me is that many of us think recommendation algorithms are brilliant/the root of all evil etc. but the reality remains that Amazon will still recommend you buy things you have already bought because it can’t even understand that the thing you bought was a one off. I love his how it recommends I buy music I already own having bought it from… Amazon.
Essentially ML/AI are algorithms. No more no less. The world will change a little in the end but it really won’t change that much.
When I was at school (1960s) we were told that computers and robots were coming and the result would be more leisure time. Whilst it hasn’t happened across all job sectors, it is noticeable in the manufacturing sector, where indeed the reality is more leisure time - otherwise being known as unemployment, the owners of the robots being the people that make money, and those unemployed struggling to make ends meet. AI is just part of that progression. Whilst computers, robots & AI can be wonderful tools to assist humankind, whether actually good depends on the society in which they are used. I share your feelings, but I suspect that discussion of this could soon become interpreted as political even if it is fundamentally a moral matter.
Have been hearing this for several decades now. Full automation is just around the corner as it has been for 20 years or so. Go look at the Tesla claims. They’ve had to be stepped back from repeatedly. Every time they’ve litigated claims to the contrary they have lost and with obvious good reason.
Then there’s the examples people throw into the mix. What was it this time last year? Waymo in SF as I recall. A year later the expansion to other cities is on hold because of “very real public safety concerns”. The main concerns being incidents/accidents happening which cannot be explained. If you use black box tech it looks very impressive and near magical to those who want to believe in such stuff. Out in the real world though when there is a near miss or a death you need to explain what went wrong. When you can’t because you don’t really know how it works or are just too evangelical to understand that faith is not how safety is done then it’s hardly a surprise the new frontier is still forever just around the corner.
The tech is being absorbed into new vehicles in some sensible and some very stupid ways e.g. electric door locking solves a problem which never existed and creates a whole new set of issues.
Will there be a genuine self-driving vehicle in my lifetime? Not a chance.
Alternatively if a dictator of a country were to want them, and were to decree that no claims may be brought against the manufacturers or operators, then it could happen in that country…
“In our image, let’s make robots for our slaves
Imagine all the time that we can save
Computers, machines, the silicon dream”
“On the eighth day machine just got upset
A problem man had not foreseen as yet”
Hazel O’Connor - Eighth Day from the album “Breaking Glass” 1979
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