F8: Balancing Fear of Artificial Intelligence
When many of us were young, science fiction movies and stories were often centered around the future, when machines would take over the earth and humans would be enslaved for eternity. It’s not as big of a fear as it once was, but the fear of the term Artificial Intelligence is still alive and well. And rightly so. But, there are some incredible things happening in A.I.
In this Episode I outline three startup companies: Check-Eye, CarbonBright, and Memory Lane Games, all of which are developing ideas to help make the world a better place, all using...gasp…Artificial Intelligence.
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F8: BALANCING FEAR OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
WHEN I WAS GROWING UP, I REMEMBER TALKING ABOUT THE FUTURE AND FEARING THE DAY WHEN ROBOTS WOULD TAKE OVER THE EARTH. MOVIES LIKE THE TERMINATOR AND THE MATRIX CAPTURED OUR IMAGINATIONS OF WHAT COULD HAPPEN IF MACHINES BECAME SENTIENT AND WE LOST CONTROL.
AS THE YEARS HAVE GONE BY, ROBOTS HAVE BEEN DEVELOPED, SOME PRETTY IMPRESSIVE, BUT, AS AI IS BECOMING MORE AND MORE PREVALENT, THE FEAR OF BEING PHYSICALLY OVERCOME BY ROBOTS THAT WOULD ENSLAVE US HUMANS, ISN’T SOMETHING THAT MOST PEOPLE ARE TALKING ABOUT. WHAT MOST PEOPLE ARE TALKING ABOUT IS WHAT’S HAPPENING IN THE AREA OF GENERATIVE AI. DEVELOPERS ARE FINDING ALL SORTS OF WAYS TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE TECHNOLOGY, BUT WE’VE ALREADY SEEN THINGS GO WRONG WITH SOCIAL MANIPULATION, VISUAL DECEPTION, AND DATA PRIVACY – SO CYBERSECURITY IS BECOME INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT. WITH THE ADVENT OF AI-POWERED WEAPONS SYSTEMS, THERE ARE MANY MORE CONCERNS, AND GLOBAL LEADERS MUST WORK TOGETHER TO LIMIT THE DAMAGE THAT AI CAN DO TO GLOBAL SECURITY.
HOWEVER, IT’S EASY TO HEAR ALL OF THIS AND FORGET HOW WE ARE BENEFITTING GREATLY FROM ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE. JUST LIKE MOST THINGS, THERE ARE GOODS AND BADS, AND WHILE WE NEED TO CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION ABOUT HOW TO LIMIT THE DISASTEROUS SIDES OF A.I., WE CAN’T LET FEAR BLIND US FROM SEEING THE BENEFITS OF A.I. POPPING UP ALL AROUND US.
HERE ARE A FEW NEW COMPANIES USING AI TO HELP MAKE THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE:
EPISODE
HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF DIABETIC RETINOPATHY? IT’S AN EYE CONDITION THAT OCCURS IN PEOPLE SUFFERING FROM DIABETES WHEN THEIR BLOOD SUGAR LEVELS AREN’T MAINTINED. THE HIGH-BLOOD SUGAR DAMAGES THE BLOOD VESSELS IN THEIR RETINA, AND IF IT’S NOT CAUGHT EARLY, THEY CAN LOSE THEIR EYESIGHT. WITH DIABETES RATES CLIMBING AT AN ALARMING RATE IN THE U.S., DIABETIC RETINOPATHY IS BECOMING A CRISIS.
ENTER AN AI-DRIVEN COMPANY CALLED CHECK EYE. THEY’VE DEVELOPED A SCREENING SOLUTION TO ALLOW VERY BASIC EYECARE FACILITIES, LIKE IN WALMART OR AT OTHER PHARMACIEES LIKE CVS, TO TAKE PHOTOGRAPHS OF A CUSTOMER’S EYE AND VERY QUICKLY FIND OUT IF DIABETIC RETINOPATHY IS PRESENT. THIS EARLY DETECTION IS INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT, AND NOW, THANKS TO THIS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE SOLUTION, PREVENTION OF DIABETIC RETINOPATHY IS GOING MAINSTREAM.
ANOTHER AI-BASED COMPANY IS MAKING MAJOR HEADWAY IN KEEPING CONSUMER PACKAGED GOOD COMPANIES FOCUSED ON SUSTAINABILITY. WITH ALL OF THE PLASTIC WASTE WE ARE CONSUMING DAILY, FROM SHAMPOO BOTTLES TO SINGLE SERVE PLASTIC PACKAGING FOR APPLESAUCE, WE’RE PUTTING TOO MUCH IN OUR LANDFILLS. OFTEN, KEY DECISIONS ARE BEING MADE BY THE COMPANIES PRODUCING THE PRODUCTS, FROM WHAT KIND OF PACKAGING TO USE TO HOW TO SHIP THE PRODUCTS TO RETAILERS, WITHOUT FULLY UNDERSTANDING THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT. NOW, THEY’RE ABLE TO QUICKLY SEE HOW DIFFERENT CHOICES MATTER.
THANKS TO A STARTUP COMPANY CALLED CARBONBRIGHT, COMPANIES NOW HAVE EASY ACCESS TO AN AI-POWERED PLATFORM THAT QUICKLY SCORES THEIR CHOICES – WITH A TOUCH OF A BUTTON THEY CAN SEE THEIR PROODUCT LIFECYCLE AND SUPPLY CHAIN EMISSIONS FOOTPRINT – WITHOUT HAVING TO WASTE TIME FINDING AND ENTERING COMPLEX DATA. THIS IS GREAT NEWS. AND EFFORTS LIKE THE CARBON DISCLOSURE PROJECT, PUT PRESSURE ON COMPANIES TO SHARE THEIR CARBON FOOTPRINT SCORES. ONE DAY SOON, WE WILL BE ABLE TO MAKE PURCHASE DECISIONS BASED ON A COMPANY’S SUSTAINABILITY SCORE, WHICH WILL ONLY BE A WIN FOR THE ENVIRONMENT.
ANOTHER AI-BASED COMPANY IS MAKING HEADWAY IN THE AREA OF ALZHEIMERS CARE. WHILE THERE ARE ALL KINDS OF MEDICAL ADVANCES BEING MADE IN THE AREAS OF DIMENTIA AND ALZHEIMERS RESEARCH, THIS COMPANY IS USING A.I. TO HELP PEOPLE WHO ARE ALREADY SUFFERING FROM MEMORY LOSS FEEL MORE CONNECTED TO THEIR CAREGIVERS AND TO THE LIFE THEY’VE LIVED.
MEMORY LANE GAMES IS A HEALTH APP THAT USES ARTIFICAL INTELLIGENCE TO BRING MEMORIES INTO A VISUAL-BASED TRIVIA GAME. BY SERVING UP PHOTOS FROM THE PATIENT’S OWN PHOTO LIBRARY, OR THE LIBRARY OF A LOVED ONE, THE PATIENT CAN PLAY TRIVIA GAMES CENTERED AROUND THEIR OWN LIFE TO IMROVE THEIR QUALITY OF LIFE. THE GOAL OF THE GAME ISN’T TO COMPETE FOR SCORES, BUT RATHER TO INCREASE COMMUNICATION BETWEEN CAREGIVERS AND THOSE SUFFERING FROM DIMENTIA.
IN CLINICAL TRIALS, 93% OF CAREGIVERS FELT THAT THE APP MADE THEM MORE RELAXED. 83% LAUGHED MORE, AND 67% REPORTED BEING HAPPIER. NOT ONLY DOES IT HELP CAREGIVERS, BUT THE TRIAL SHOWED THAT 58% OF PEOPLE WITH DIMENTIA COMMUNICATED MORE.
WHILE IT MAY NOT SEEM LIKE MUCH, THESE IMPROVEMENTS ARE IMPACTING PEOPLE’S QUALITY OF LIFE AND THE WORLD AROUND US. THERE ARE COMPANIES ALL OVER THE WORLD SOLVING PROBLEMS AND MAKING PEOPLE MORE CONNECTED AND HAPPIER, ALL THROUGH THE USE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE.
I KNOW I BRISTLE WHEN I HEAR ANY NEWS STORY ABOUT ARTIFICAL INTELLIGENCE…. BECAUSE IT SEEMS LIKE IT’S ALMOST ALWAYS NEGATIVE – TAPPING INTO THOSE FEARS WE ESTABLISHED AT A YOUNG AGE. AND SOME OF THE FEAR IS JUSTIFIED. BUT THESE THREE EXAMPLES ARE A GOOD REMINDER THAT, WHILE MEDIA COMPANIES BENEFIT GREATLY FROM BRINGING US THE BAD NEWS, WE CAN BENEFIT BY NOT FORGETTING THE GOOD OUT THERE. HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND.
https://co.memorylanegames.com/
https://co.memorylanegames.com/memory-lane-games-collaborating-with-mayo-clinic/