The AI illusion

20 April 2024

Artificial intelligence as a new technology has captured our imaginations Made us marvel at its apparent consciousness and dream again about the possibilities of technology

But AI is nothing but statistics, Statistics, not expressed as numbers but as language

Language we speak, language we use, language we understand

Language that conjures up images

And as such this statistics model, infinitely big, complex and too complicated to grasp, creates an illusion of consciousness

An illusion of humanness, An illusion so powerful, it boggles the mind

An illusion that sets our imagination free

Like a magician, AI makes us dream we can fly It lifts us up out of the theatre chair and makes us feel, experience, dream

Makes us imagine new possibilities

But just like magic we should remember that magicians can’t fly

After the magician has imagined his show, he sets to engineering the illusion

Figuring out the technicalities, the intricacies of wires and mirrors Cleverly combining different techniques to harness the effect of illusion

Let’s use AI as a trigger for our imagination, but be pragmatic in engineering those imaginations

AI as a magician, and AI as a technology, are two very different things

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