🤖 Artificial Intelligence in Plain English: What It Is, Where You're Already Using It, and What to Watch Out For

Frank Bravo 0:08
Welcome to Your Tech Makeover, a podcast that gives you tips and tricks to simplify and get more out of the technology in your life. I'm your host, Frank Bravo. Today we're talking about artificial intelligence, or AI for short. What it is, how it works, and where you might already be using it. And yes, some of the dangers that come along with it. AI can seem like a buzzword, but there's already really deeply embedded in your daily lives, and understanding it can help you feel smarter and make safer choices. So what exactly is AI? Let's start with the basics. AI is short for artificial intelligence, and it's the ability for machines or software to perform tasks that would typically require a human intelligence. Think of it like learning from experience, understanding language, recognizing patterns and speeches, and even making decisions. But it's all based on data. At its core, AI works by analyzing a huge amount of information, looking for patterns, and understanding those patterns to make decisions and predictions. This is where machine learning comes in. Machine learning is actually a subset of AI where computers are trained to learn from data instead of explicitly being programed for every little task. That's where an email app might figure out what spam is and what it isn't. It's learning based on millions of examples. Now, here's the part that might surprise you and a lot of people. You're already using AI every day, probably without even realizing it. For instance, smart assistants like Siri, Google Voice, Alexa they all use AI to understand your voice commands, answer your questions, and even crack a joke or two. Your streaming services like Flix and Spotify also use AI to recommend shows, movies, playlists, and they're all based upon your previous preferences. Have you ever noticed how Amazon and other shopping sites always seem to know what you need? That's AI's analyzing your browsing history and your purchase history to give you products that it knows you might like Google Maps, Apple Maps, ways they all use AI as well to calculate the fastest route from your current location to your destination and consider traffic patterns all in real time. Finally, platforms like Instagram, TikTok, Facebook they all use AI to craft your feed and suggest content that you might like. Have you ever noticed that if you watch a few reels of dogs, your feet is now full of dogs? Well, that's AI at work. It's pretty amazing, right? AI has quickly become an indispensable part of our lives. But it's not just for convenience. It's also changing the way we create content and interact with that content. One of the hottest trends in AI right now is generative AI. These are tools that can create text or images and even some music. If you have heard of ChatGPT or Dall-E, then you've accounted this kind of AI. A tool like ChatGPT is considered a large language model or elm for short, and it can generate text, answer questions, and assist with tasks like writing emails or brainstorming ideas. They work by predicting the next word in a sentence based on the input they've been given, but they go way more deeper than that. Personally, I've started using ChatGPT as an assistant for my code writing and for all my development projects I'm working on. I feed the problem that I'm trying to solve. Two ChatGPT have it right some code for me and then evaluate it before using it. I it has saved me hours of work, and it types a whole heck of a lot faster than I can. I have used these tools to get me started with graphics as well. In several cases, I've entered text explaining what I'm looking for and how what feelings I'm looking for, and it comes back to me with various options for me to start from. But you can also go crazy with it just by entering some text. If you want a picture of a cat wearing a space helmet, no problem. It can do that for you. If you're interested in a deeper dive into ChatGPT, look for a future episode where I talk, how to interact with it and how to get the best results from it. While you're using these tools for fun and creativity, they're not perfect. And that brings me to the potential downsides. One of the biggest risks of generative AI is misinformation. These tools can create a fake news article, doctor image, and even create deepfake videos that look and sound real. Because of this, it's becoming harder and harder to know what's true online. AI systems often require a lot of data to work effectively, which raises the question about how that data is collected, stored, and used. Because of this, their privacy policy and the concerns around that have really become forefront of this argument. Another risk of AI is as it automates more tasks. Some jobs may become obsolete, but I don't think that'll happen right away. As an example of my code writing, someone still needs to understand the problem. Evaluate the solution that it comes up with and actually put it into play. Additionally, AI will create all sorts of new opportunities for people. AI is also only as unbiased as it's trained to be. There's a lot that's being written right now about who's training these models and how they're fed information. If the training of the data is biased, then the AI is going to be biased too. So you need to continue to look out for that. Finally, as we learn more about AI and use it more and more for decision making, we run the risk of overreliance and are losing our ability to critically think about things. Always double check AI suggestions, especially for important decisions. A quick shout out to listeners like you who make your tech make over possible. Your support helps keep this podcast going and I truly appreciate it. Want to contribute? Just click the link in the show notes or visit your Tech makeover.com plus as a special thank you. Supporters who give $25 or more will get $25 off a one time consultation with me to help simplify your tech. Thanks for being part of the Your Tech Makeover community. Now back to what I was saying. Changing gears a bit. AI has been a long fascination for movies and TVs, and it shapes kind of how we think about it. I wanted to give you some examples of how Hollywood has portrayed AI and how it compares to reality. Let's start with probably the one of the most famous examples. And that's the Hal 9000 from the 1968 movie 2001 A Space Odyssey. Hal is a sentient computer capable of independent thought, while how represents the fears of machines turning against us. Today's AI is far from being able to make decisions totally on their own. Another classic AI moment comes from a film in 1983, the film WarGames, where a young hacker, played by Matthew Broderick, accidentally accesses the military supercomputer called Whopper, and it's nearly starts World War II. The AI and War Games is based on real world military concepts, and practically it's an early automated defense system designed to protect and respond to threats. While today's AI isn't hopefully making decisions about nuclear warfare, the movie was way ahead of its time showcasing how AI can be misused, how it learns from simulations, and the dangers of humans relying on it way too much for automation. The film's famous lesson the only winning move is not to play. Still resonates today as we think about AI, ethics and control. In 2008, Disney entered the fray into AI with Wally, where AI helps tell a story about environmental responsibility, human dependency on technology, and what could happen AI. All. Wally. Actually, Wally's adorable personality shows how AI can be designed to engage with us emotionally, but also reminds us about the potential downsides of overreliance on tech. These are just three examples that reflect our hopes and our dreams about AI. While Hollywood portrayals might often lean on the dramatic, shockingly, there are great ways to spark conversation, and it talks about what AI could be and what safeguards need to be in place. So how can you make the most of AI while avoiding its print falls? Here's a few tips. First, try understanding the tool before using any AI service and understand what it does and how it uses your data. In my show notes, I've asked ChatGPT to summarize its own terms of service and privacy policies and then explain it to me like it would to a fifth grader. The results are in the notes, like I mentioned, but partially so that you can see what it said, but also as an example of what it can do. The next thing to be aware of is to stay critical. Don't blindly trust AI recommendations. Whether it's a suggested route or a movie or a place to get some news, take a moment to think about the answer. It's always good to make sure the results make sense if needed. Then you could verify from the source material. So I always make sure that it's not making things up. You should also do what you can to stay informed about AI advancements. There are other implications around AI, and the more you know, the better you can use these tools to your advantage. Looking ahead, AI will only continue to evolve. We might even see more personalized healthcare, smarter home devices, and breakthroughs in areas like education and environmental conservation. But it's up to us to use the technology responsibly. AI is only as good as we make it, and it isn't just a futuristic concept. It's here now, making our lives easier and more connected. And just as a reminder, if you're interested in a deeper dive into ChatGPT, look for a future episode. While I'll talk about how to interact with it and how to get the best results from it. Let me know if you've tried AI and how it's worked for you. And as always, if you have an idea for topics or you'd like to just engage with me, please feel free to contact me via email at Frank at your Tech makeover.com. That's it for now. Thanks for listening to your tech makeover. And before I go, I wanted to remind you to subscribe to this podcast on your favorite podcast platform so that you don't miss an episode. Visit your tech makeover. Com for more details. And if you want to find out more about me, check out Bravo. It's com. Until next time, I'm Frank Bravo, and this has been your tech makeover.