ai – Richard Shearmur

AI and universities: Who will oversee AI?

AI in universities: short-term gains AI is inevitable in the sense that it has been forced upon us by tech oligarchs, and that it provides practical tools for short-circuiting lengthy processes such as writing, synthesis, programming, cleaning data, and so on. In the short-term, and from a purely pragmatic perspective, there are many reasons toContinue reading “AI and universities: Who will oversee AI?”

AI and universities: towards a generation of credentialed idiots?

Thinking about new technology When powerful oligopolistic corporations force a technology upon us, telling us that there is no alternative, shoe-horning it into search engines, answering services, operating systems, etc…, it is sensible to take a step back and think about it. It is sensible to wonder why these oligopolies are doing this, who willContinue reading “AI and universities: towards a generation of credentialed idiots?”

The (many) questions AI can’t address

This morning I read an interesting series of three articles in La Presse. They ask whether Artificial Intelligence (admittedly a wide-ranging and vague concept) will be salutary or catastrophic. One article puts the case for AI, one makes the case against, and the final one tries to balance the two. The limited case for AIContinue reading “The (many) questions AI can’t address”

Belief in stats and algorithms : an illusion of objectivity

Algorithms: or how to make responsibility disappear I am reading a fascinating book (Revolutionary Mathematics, by Justin Joque, Verso, 2022) in which he develops the idea that the current takeover of many everyday processes by algorithms (of which he explains the logic and maths – which I find fascinating!) is a form of objectification inContinue reading “Belief in stats and algorithms : an illusion of objectivity”

Masdar City: a partial eco-neighbourhood?

What is Masdar City? Masdar City is a well-hyped suburban development close to Abu-Dhabi airport, about 30 minutes from the (rather amorphous) centre of the metropolitan area. It is hyped as : “A ground-breaking sustainable urban community and a world-class business free zone and technology hub, with innovation in [its] DNA. Driven by the UAE’sContinue reading “Masdar City: a partial eco-neighbourhood?”

General AI – headed towards irrelevance?

Focussed AI is a powerful tool Focussed AI is a useful tool when applied to closed and verified data, information and texts: so, for instance, it is easy to imagine it usefully summarising – and extracting information from – a curated body of legal texts, archives, interview transcripts, maps or programming routines. The key isContinue reading “General AI – headed towards irrelevance?”