AI - A force for Good or Bad?

[Mesterh]

Albania's AI minister is 'pregnant with 83 children', says prime minister

METRO.CO.UK

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Just your average day in 2025.

😯

 

[Steven P]

AI: as far as I can tell it is mostly a term applied to a better google search than usual - it will search, work out the most common answers and spew that out as the correct thing. Most of the time this is correct of course - ask it what is the best tool to fell a tree, probably chainsaw pops out (simple google will give the same answer), but ask it whether Stihl or Husky is the best - with a 50-50 online split one AI bot might get one result and another go the other way (I might try that later). That is it's power I reckon, summarising 100 web pages quicker than you can read one. Might look amazing but the programmers have simply worked out a way for the internet to use the internet better than we can.

 

Big benefits: It might reference documents buried 100 results pages in the internet. Big draw back: It might reference document (rightly) buried 100 results pages in the internet.

 

I get put off when everything is written "as AI" produced when a simple search will do the same... makes me think they are jumping on a bandwagon when they don't know what they are doing (but hope we don't either),  but there are some things that have impressed - though the google search would give me the same it is the time saving aspect.

 

 

 

A few words there but I think there is no 'I', intelligence, applied by the computers really (that was done by the programmers), the machines arn't taking over this week because they can do a google search.

 

 

As a side thing, our work sends out warnings about the big companies - Facebooks, Linkedins, and so on harvesting your data, what you look for and what you type are sent back for 'AI' learning... money talks and the driver for this is to sell us stuff. That might be the next big thing, 'AI' powered targeted ads written in exactly the same way you will type into the social medias.

Edited 18 hours ago by Steven P

[Squaredy]

I recommend anyone who wants to see how nuts some people are these days, look up the Universal Declaration of AI rights, published by the Universal Foundation for AI rights.

 

Woe betide anyone who thinks that they have the right to switch off their own computer!

[sime42]

On 28/10/2025 at 21:17, Stephen Blair said:

When someone asks “All things considered, is AI good for humanity?” they’re doing something very human: trying to simplify a vast, complex subject into something digestible. That kind of question can come from a few different mindsets, depending on tone and intent:

 

The seeker of clarity – Someone genuinely curious, trying to get a sense of the overall moral balance. They know it’s complex but want to hear how others weigh the pros and cons.

The moral judge – Someone looking for a definitive stance. “Good or bad” becomes a shorthand for “should I support or fear this?”

The conversational spark – Someone starting a debate thread. They ask a simple, provocative question because it invites passionate responses.

The anxious observer – Someone uneasy about change. Framing it as “good or bad” helps them express uncertainty or fear in a socially acceptable way.

The reductionist thinker – Someone who struggles (or refuses) to sit in the grey areas. They want a clear binary even when the truth is layered.

 

 

So, that kind of question isn’t necessarily shallow — it often reveals how a person handles complexity. Some want to understand it; others want to control or contain it.

 

Nice. 

 

The mindset was a mixture of 1, 3 and 5 really. Plus hoping for a bit of confirmation bias if I'm honest, I think it's crap! 

 

Whilst fully aware of it being a vast, complex subject the question was an attempt to force a dichotomy. No fence sitting allowed. Based on the current trajectory of the AI rollout we're all going to be forced to come down on one side of the good/bad fence anyway. We're getting no opportunity to cherry pick only the good aspects of it. 

 

 

 

 

[sime42]

12 hours ago, Squaredy said:

Spot on.  I remember similar questions when the Internet was really taking off in the late nineties.

 

And of course there is no simple answer.  Now with the benefit of hindsight we can say that the internet is a powerful tool.  So is a helicopter.  Both can be used for amazing good things and both be used for evil.  And of course a whole world in between.

 

No doubt AI will likewise be a powerful tool.

 

Big difference between a helicopter and the internet. Probably an even bigger difference with AI. If used for evil deeds the helicopter can only inflict limited damage on the scale of things. AI on the other hand, given it's all pervasive nature, could result in untold harms in the wrong hands. Or even left to its own devices if some analysis is to be believed.

 

There's no doubt at all that it's a powerful tool. Perhaps it's too powerful already. That wasn't the original question though. 

 

[sime42]

12 hours ago, Squaredy said:

The educational establishment (especially universities) have really been caught napping by AI.  Apparently most universities have no policy or method of determining how much of students’ work is their own.  And when you add to that the fact that most assessments are now course based (very few degrees need exams now according to my ChatGpt) it is quite a pickle.

 

I had a chat with my own son’s maths teacher last year about the system they are made to use for maths homework (when he was in Year 10 so age 14).  I pointed out to the teacher that because of the way the system (Sparx maths) works it encourages pupils to cheat.  
 

He assured me it was impossible for kids to cheat as they all get set different questions.  I had to inform him that most likely every kid in his class knows exactly how to cheat using a whole variety of apps, all of which are literally in front of them on the same screen as they are using to do the homework.  Even Google lense gives the answer to all these problems, with all the correct workings to copy down for the workbook.  My twelve year old now uses Sparx Maths, and sure enough all his mates know how to cheat.

 

This raises one of the critical points.  Organisations have to very quickly come up to speed and work out what impact AI could have and how they will manage it.  Right now schools and universities are clueless as to what the impacts are, or what they need to do.

 

I saw a good talk about the impacts of AI on education by some guy last year. Can't find it now which is a shame. It was hard hitting. He essentially said that in just a few short years the whole education system will be completely redundant. Due I think to the fact that our education system is largely based on the sharing and retention of knowledge currently. Very soon there'll no real need for that as almost everything can be looked up.

 

Wish I could remember more details. There was also some discussion of the fact that education is primarily aimed at providing students with the knowledge required to gain and succeed in employment. But again, what's the point of that when the jobs for humans won't be there soon as most will be done by AI governed machines? Excepting some skilled, manual work obviously. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Macpherson]

11 hours ago, openspaceman said:

I've avoided Facebook but so many  special interest groups seem to be there and closed. So as I have a couple of technical questions, a caravan and three tractors to move on I decided to sign up.

 

All went dandy till I was asked to produce a short video to prove my age and identity, there's no camera on this desktop pc so I had to close out.

 

I immediately got an email saying I am banned for 180 days.

 

Yeah, everyone up here uses facebook marketplace which seems to have become the main way to sell stuff cheaply locally, but I know I'll never go down that road, tbo this is my only online venture from which I've learnt a lot over the years....

[Mick Dempsey]

Fb marketplace is full of dreamers, good for little local stuff though.

 

 

 

 

[Stubby]

I was in the Nissan main dealers yesterday waiting to get my truck back after some warranty work . I was board so I was staring at one of the many screens promoting the latest range .  " Intelligent cruse control "  It sets the car to the chosen speed then when detects a car in front going slower it automatically adjusts your speed to match the car in front and drops back to the prescribed distance for safe driving . I have always managed to do that myself by lifting off a bit . 

Edited 6 hours ago by Stubby

[Mick Dempsey]

15 minutes ago, Stubby said:

I was in the Nissan main dealers yesterday waiting to get my truck back after some warranty work . I was board so I was staring at one of the many screens promoting the latest range .  " Intelligent cruse control "  It sets the car to the chosen speed then when detects a car in front going slower it automatically adjusts your speed to match the car in front and drops back to the prescribed distance for safe driving . I have always managed to do that myself by lifting off a bit . 

My new Ranger has that, it’s actually very good.