Artificial is the Key Word

“Hey, ChatGPT, Write 50 words about Port Perry.”

‘Port Perry is a small town located in Scugog, Ontario, Canada. It is known for its historic downtown area, beautiful waterfront, and recreational activities such as boating and fishing. The town also hosts several festivals and events throughout the year, including the Port Perry Fair and the Festival of Lights.’ And so it begins.

AI or Artificial Intelligence, is the latest buzzword in the world of technology. There are a number of companies rushing to bring products to market in hopes of being among the first to profit from this newest craze.

So, what exactly is AI, and how does it apply to our lives? First off, AI has been around for a long time. It is only recently that it has been transferred into affordable products for our daily use, the biggest and most popular being a writing system. As I showed above, a simple question will generate a 50, 100, 500 or endless amount of words essay on a topic.

Needless to say, this has the education community up in arms. Students can produce papers without lifting a finger. Authors can write articles, musicians can create lyrics, and poets can pen prose, all by entering a few keywords into a computer, phone or tablet.

The one element, which makes this process fallible, is the basis for anything AI produces, is the internet. This means it has access to trillions of pieces of information. However, it also means it does not decipher correctly from incorrect. If the information is on the web, AI will summarize it for you, right or wrong.

Google Home and Amazon Alexa are examples of AI technology taken to the next level. They have incorporated voice technology into their systems to make the devices seem almost human.

Words are not the only element of AI technology. The painting below was created by me telling ChatGPT to create an oil painting of a man sitting at a desk in the forest. It is not an image, simply taken from the internet, but a composition of different elements available.

One thing I can guarantee you is as long as I am writing, the thoughts and words generated in my columns are created by the non-artificial intelligence of my brain.

Jonathan van Bilsen is a television host, award-winning photographer, published author, columnist and keynote speaker. Watch his show, ‘Jonathan van Bilsen’s photosNtravel’, on RogersTV, the Standard Website or YouTube.