AI Speaker Series—two talks from faculty focused on Artificial Intelligence
Dr. Martin Hilbert: “What’s the Deal with ChatGPT?”
The first in a series of talks about the future of Artificial Intelligence (AI), hosted by IET Communications, was held November 16, 2023, in the De Carli room at the Memorial Union on campus. Dr. Martin Hilbert, professor at UC Davis Department of Communication, gave an hour-long talk with 60 slides about AI in general and ChatGPT in particular, followed by Q&A. Watch the video
After a warm introduction from Associate CIO Neeraj Chauhan, Dr. Hilbert first shared ChatGPT’s responses when he asked the Large Language Model (LLM) chatbot about himself. The results were mixed, both accurate and erroneous. (His nickname is NOT “the digital Aristotle,” and he did NOT create a concept of “digital ladders”).
He admitted that, although he knew it was coming eventually, he was caught off guard when Generative AI passed the Turing test earlier this year. “I thought I would have more time and I wasn’t sure (I was) going to see during my career.” He continued with some truly stunning observations about the new paradigm and its effects on our university, greater society, and the world.
Were we to observe some imagined extraterrestrials using AI to the extent we currently do, Dr. Hilbert states, “You don’t need a chip in the brain to understand that they merged as a species with that system.“ If you unplug and go to the Andes, you may survive, "...but under no circumstance can you argue that you’re co-evolving with us as a society."
Amazon, Uber, and Airbnb are examples of companies using “algorithmification” (a term he coined), a paradigm in which they don’t own physical products, cars, or beds, but rather ‘digital twins' of the physical forms represented in their databases. “Algorithmification does to knowledge what digitalization did to information” he stated. Dr. Hilbert suggested that universities, including our own, should prepare for this impending paradigm shift.
During the Q&A, in response to an audience member’s question about the future of AI, he pointed to the fact that “Hollywood was laughing about Netflix. Sears was laughing about Amazon. Sony Music was laughing about Spotify. They stopped laughing three years later… Sometimes it goes very fast.”
Though the AI revolution may be disruptive, Dr. Hilbert is upbeat about the massive productivity improvements. Coding and tutoring, along with a marketing analysis are some of the more inspiring beneficiaries of AI. There's also a new form of engagement for primary students of history ... they can have a conversation with "George Washington," a ChatGPT construct, ask questions, and get answers in plain language based on an enormous amount of history logged in the database.
Dr. Andy Jones: “Let’s Talk about GenAI”
The second talk in the AI Speaker Series was held on Zoom on November 29, 2023. IET’s very own Dr. Andy Jones, Academic Associate Director of ATS, discussed our campus’s uses, opportunities, and limits of Generative Artificial Intelligence. Watch the video
Neeraj Chauhan introduced our speaker and, like Dr. Hilbert, shared some questionable ChatGPT responses about Dr. Andy Jones, such as that he was a medical doctor at UC Davis Health. Dr. Jones joked that when he's making a reservation at a fancy restaurant, they will ask if he’s a medical doctor. He admits that he’s ‘only’ a Ph.D., and they put him at the bottom of the list. Rude!
Sharing another personal experience with AI, Dr. Jones told how one of his student assistants had learned from Dr. Hilbert to create apps without needing to learn to write code—instead just asking AI chatbots to write the code for them. Dr. Jones quoted computer scientist Andrej Karpathy; “The hottest new programming language is English.”
Dr. Jones referred to a researcher he’d discovered recently, Philippa Hardman, who categorizes reactions to Generative AI into 3 camps: Team Avoid, Team Ban, and Team Embrace. Team Avoid includes teachers who ask their class to handwrite their work. Team Ban also attempts to thwart those who would copy/paste work that is not their own. Team Embrace encourages students to use AI since they are likely to be required to do so in future jobs. Accessibility may open up opportunities to those with disabilities, or it may provide financially advantaged students with shortcuts.
He also talked about a programmer on the former Twitter, “Boris,” who created an AI writing assistant. Dr. Jones said, “Boris has created something called Flow Speed Typist, and he asks us to imagine how quickly you could type if accuracy were not a concern.” Imagine if you were Jim Carrey’s character in “Bruce Almighty,” except able to write novels without looking down at the keyboard.
Explore more AI Speaker Series
The AI Speaker Series will continue monthly. Click here to explore the AI Speaker Series site.
Look for future talks soon!