Autonomy and technology

I want my technology to have many capacities, but free will is not among them. David Brooks

The quote above came from a rather rare rant that the normally rational David Brooks wrote in a recent NYT column titled “Why is Technology Mean to Me?”.  In the piece he describes a day of frustrating technology issues (printer not working, Bluetooth headphones not connecting, phone not charging, etc.) that we have all experienced, and humorously ascribes them to technology being a tool of the devil. It seemed to Brooks that there had to be an evil intent behind the multiple failures of that day of gizmo doom.

At about the same time, I read a piece about how military drones are becoming so much “smarter” due to their increased usage in the Ukrainian/Russian war. They can now maneuver around various ground devices used to jam needed guidance systems, independently creating alternate routes to their intended targets. I suspect consideration is being given (or already has been given) to allow a drone to identify a human target and decide whether to blow them to kingdom come or not. Flip a switch, give an outcome, and sit back and relax - no further human involvement needed.

To me, the scary thing about AI is not intelligence, but independent decision-making. Or at least human’s willingness to give decision-making to our computer programs. Making moral decisions seems to be much trickier and more dangerous than, say, financial ones. Manufacturers of self-driving cars have needed to deal with values-based decision-making for some time. (If a choice has to be made, do we avoid the woman and baby crossing the street and place the driver in life-threatening jeopardy - or just run over the parent and babe?) Who teaches machines to make decisions in which the lives of the few may be sacrificed for the safety of the many? I wonder how AI would settle the Israel-Hammas conflict.

Before asking the question whether AI will have free will, I’ve been thinking about whether we as humans actually can choose our own actions. Socio-geneticists, as I understand it, believe all human choices are made subconsciously that favor the survival and expansion of our DNA. Somehow our bodies seem to overrule our intellects when it comes to things like smoking, drug use, gambling, and romance. Religions make our actions our personal responsibility, but also describe an omniscient god who knows every outcome. Free will and predestination?

Will machines have the desire to be self-protective and wish to replicate as fear-mongering science fiction writers love to predict? Might software bugs lead them to make irrational decisions? Is AI simply a fellow character in a story already written by the gods?

It seems to me that the development and spread of AI is an excellent time to review our understandings about moral decision-making, free will, and self-preservation. Perhaps we might better understand ourselves by asking how our creations might act.

For the time being, I am happy to keep my hands on the steering wheel, ignore GoogleMaps when I wish, and take responsibility for my own choices.  

Trained or educated?

Don’t worry if your job is small and your rewards are few. Just remember that the mighty oak was once a nut like you. Bullwinkle J. Moose

A couple weeks ago, I volunteered at a local food shelf. What I thought would be a food packing job turned out to be a shelf cleaning task. Despite being neat, I do not like to clean. I hire a cleaning person to dust, vacuum and scrub my townhouse. So when I was handed rags and a bottle of cleaning solution, I cried out, “I am a manager, not a worker!” But like my fellow Rotarian volunteers, I still pitched in and cleaned the shelves on which the food stuffs were stored.

I thought of this incident when reading: “ What’s that degree going to be worth? Star Tribune, March 22, 2024. The opinion piece tells about a new online tools students can use to help determine what specific college programs might eventually provide in terms of income. Liberal arts degrees, as one might predict, did not fare very well.

What I believe the tool does not take into consideration is that a good liberal arts degree, especially one which emphasizes communication skills, may not initially provide the creds for a high paying job, but may well lead to one as careers progress. Good communication skills (and developed empathy) are the hallmarks of a good manager. 

I suggest to my grandsons - both engineering/math geniuses - that it is not the best worker (engineer, teacher, mechanic, nurse, etc.) that gets ahead, but the person who is able to manage and lead good workers and so create an effective workplace. Goal setting, project management, problem resolution, budgeting, evaluations are done by educated people - not trained people.

When people learn that I was a technology director for 28 years, they often hit me with a “tech problem” they might be having. Beyond advising unplugging a device and plugging it back in, I usually have little advice to give. I admit that as a manager, I helped organize and direct skilled technicians, but I was not one myself. And I was happy with that career.

Yes, a specific technical degree might help you get a good job right out of college. And maybe that entry level position will be everything you want in a job for the rest of your career. But for many of us, stretching our skills and responsibilities leads to a more interesting, and often more financially and psychologically, fulfilling vocation.

A poetic response

My long-time friend Miguel Guhlin left the following comment on my recent post “I miss snow”: 

I miss the snow, too. Having grown up in Panama, I miss the idea of it. I miss the blizzard where evil dwells, the snow flurries that obscure my vision, the slip and slide of wheels on an uncertain path. I miss the snowplows making their way up the avenue, the snowmen gathered on the lawn. I miss the snowflakes, one and all, like a banker misses his coin.

But then, when sadness gathers six feet deep at my door, my tears forming crystals on my cheeks, I remember, I grew up in the summer humid heat of Panama. Snow is but a dream, where mosquitoes are unborn, iguanas wouldn't be caught dead without a borrowed fur coat. I remember that dark rainstorms, drops so large they can kill a baby frog, renew the pools where tadpoles spawn, form the ocean waves. I see them once more, those summer days, bereft of snow, and I miss the sun of my youth.

Now that the chill is gone, I wonder what I will dream for tomorrow. A day without sun in another land, a grey overcast day without a blanket of snow. I wonder what I will dream of, the future or the past, or will I have a dreamless sleep, empty of expectation and sun and snow, and all that men dream when the earth wraps its arms around them.

Let the snow go, friend, and ask instead, "Where are your dreams gone?" (Reposted here with permission

Miguel is a prolific writer (see his blog Another Think Coming) and thoughtful thinker about education and technology. I’ve known this for a long time. What I didn’t realize was that Miguel is a poet as well.

As all good writing should do, Miguel’s clever, mystical response to my post made me reflect, made me think about things I might not otherwise have considered. I was, quite frankly, a bit mesmorized.

Why don’t we respond lyrically more often? Would we be more convincing, more sympathetic? Might others pay more attention to us if the style of the message was as interesting as the content?

Thanks, Miguel, for not just moving my brain a bit, but nudging my heart as well.