AI and intelligent life in the universe

We seem to be at a threshold where we are capable of making AI machines that are far more intelligent than humans.

If we can do it, imagine a civilisation that is just a tiny bit more advanced than us. Imagine a civilisation 1000 years more advanced or 1 million years more advanced.  Look how we have developed technologically in just 100 years!

It is quite possible that what in the past we would have interpreted as biological might actually be something else altogether.  

This brings into question what is life. Do AI creations have a sense of their being? Do they have thoughts? Do they feel pain and happiness?

Are all humans AI creations?

AI stocks

Perhaps with all the headlines about AI in the news recently, AI companies have fallen in value today, both in Asia and Europe. People are concerned that AI is becoming a real threat to human life.

Lots of people and pension funds have invested in AI, afraid of being left behind. The worry is that not all companies will be successful.

See https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cm70d91rg7l4t

AI dangers

In the last few years AI has improved a lot. 

Recently my wife has been amazed by the AI summary in Google. Yes, this is generally very impressive. There are many ways in which AI  can benefit us.

What worries me is that just as easily a bad actor could use AI for evil. Imagine saying "create an undetectable virus that is fatal only to xxx people", for example. We would be defenceless and never know it is AI. I am sure such creations are being developed as we speak.

YouTube and AI

These days it is very hard to tell what is really said and what is AI created.   Even with sources you know and trust it is hard to tell if this is just an AI creation aiming to get money from clicks. 

My advice has always been to use multiple sources.

Maybe it is safer to get videos from the original site so you can check the URL?

Crash coming?

AI is the "big thing" at the moment with promises of big profits. 

Perhaps people are beginning to realise AI comes with costs like energy,  hardware, data centres etc..  

The danger is that people invest in big companies and then wake up to the huge risks, much like in the .com crash earlier this century. The danger signs are there that a correction is coming. 

Caveat emptor.

Historical reconstruction videos

These videos are created using AI. Sometimes there are mistakes, but overall they give a good impression of life in a given period. They are very clever and will only get better. 

Vaccine created partly with AI

There was news today of a vaccine partly created using AI.  All being well this technique could be used to create a flu vaccine and Covid 19 vaccine that protects even when the virus mutates. On the face of it this is a good thing. 

It is also ominous. I think that it means a rogue state could produce a virus that is harmful to certain individuals or certain racial groups.  

Welcome to the brave new world! 😒

See https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/crrpggegwe0o .

New AI chip for home PCs

Nvidia has announced a new chip for PCs that brings AI to home PCs in a big way rivalling big chip manufacturers like Intel.

See https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/crmp9mppvzro

Victorian train - London to Edinburgh

This is an AI video showing a train journey from London to Edinburgh in Victorian times. There are some clear errors but, overall, it is very good. 

I am very impressed with these historical AI videos as they give a good insight to what it must have been like.

Apparently you have to watch the video on YouTube.

YouTube AI

It is sad that what you view these days may not be true. 

Using AI videos supposedly by a famous person may not be by this person at all! This is why I never trust a channel I don't know to be genuine as there are a lot of fakes around. 

People can make lots of money by visits to their sites, even if the contents are a load of rubbish.

AI

Yesterday I asked Google AI (Gemini?) about G3XBM.  To my surprise it was accurate. Previous attempts have often included mistakes. I guess in the last few years AI must have improved.

Where will AI be in another 10 years?

Frightening AI

Just now I watched a 15 second video clip. It shows a fight between Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt. Nothing special, except this was entirely created using AI from a 2 second prompt.

I am sure there will be many good things about AI. At the same time AI could be used in the media to, for example, re-create dead people. It could revolutionise movies.... and create a dearth in jobs.

See https://x.com/RuairiRobinson/status/2021394940757209134

AI historical reconstructions

 AI sometimes gets a bad press.  

In the case of historical reconstruction videos some are very good. Occasionally the AI get things very wrong e.g. the reconstruction showing Edinburgh in the 1880s with British Railways engines post 1948!

On the whole I am very impressed.

The march of AI

Just a few years ago most had never heard of AI (artificial intelligence). Now it is everywhere: you look, for example, on YouTube as you see a well known person. The chances are this is created using AI. These days  many, if not most, of the things you see on YouTube are AI creations created so the creator gets money from adverts when the video is viewed.

Sadly, you have to assume it is AI unless you can be absolutely sure it is not. There are very few sites I now trust.

Amazing AI videos

In recent days I have been amazed by some AI videos on YouTube. 

These are produced by MajesticAIStudios. They use old prints as seeds and recreate places as they were hundreds of years ago in moving videos that are ultra realistic. 

Personally I am highly impressed.

See https://www.youtube.com/@MajesticAIStudio

Videos include Amsterdam, London, Paris and Liverpool centuries ago.

Amazing AI of London in the 1600s

Just now, I watched an AI video of London in the 1600s. It was amazing and so very realistic. It was almost like really being there centuries ago. 

In my view, this is an example of AI at it best. The "seed" was old engravings of various London scenes. Truly amazing.

A good use of AI

AI frequently gets a bad press, but there are some things it is very good at. 

Today I chanced upon a movie on YouTube of London in the 1700s. It was created using old black and white prints from that time. 

The finished movie gives you a great impression of how it must have been.

AI crappery

At one time I enjoyed YouTube, but sadly you no longer can be sure that anything is real. 

I watched a very long video supposed to be by Brian Cox. It was clearly not by Brian Cox. Last week I watched a video that was meant to be the thoughts of Einstein.

The message is clear: you cannot know what is real and what is AI. The only thing you can do is assume everything is generated by AI unless you can be absolutely certain of the source.

AI dangers

There is no doubt that AI will have a huge impact on the lives of everyone in the future. It will get better and better and will have impacts for good and evil.

In many ways I have been impressed with AI. For example I asked it to colourise an old black and white photo of my dad in his RAF uniform during WW2. The colourisation was excellent.

On the downside I asked Gemini to "make a picture of Roger G3XBM" as an experiment. I tried this both in "fast" and "thinking" modes.  On both attempts the person looked nothing at all like me. It created a radio shack (far more extensive than mine, HI) and a plaque with my callsign, but the person was totally wrong. I suppose it has to find a photo of me to learn from.

This is one of the dangers of AI. People may believe what they are being told. Often it will be correct. At the same time it can be very wrong! For now, it is best to treat AI with some caution knowing it can go "rogue" and give totally false results. It can only be as good as the sources it learns from.

AI voice?

As many know, I had a stroke in 2013 that left me with a totally poor voice that many find hard to understand. Before my stroke I made quite a few YouTube videos, so I have quite a few samples of what I used to sound like.

My wife has suggested I use these to create an AI voice of me as I once sounded. I have never tried AI for this, but it sounds a good idea. The first stage will be to collect some audio samples from YouTube and then recreate my old voice using an AI tool.

If you know of suitable (preferably free) tools,  please let me know as soon as possible.