- The Dual Nature of AI: Benefits and Dangers

The first article in the series Women Over 50 on AI delves into the experiences and perspectives of women who have reached this milestone age and are navigating the world of artificial intelligence. These women bring a unique and valuable perspective to the conversation, as they have lived through decades of technological advancements and societal changes.

A:
[00:00:06 - 00:00:07]
Hi, Cheryl. 

B:
[00:00:08 - 00:00:09]
Hello, Sharmin. 

A:
[00:00:11 - 00:00:24]
Welcome to the Transforming Lives podcast panel, where we embrace, we inspire, and we empower. I am one of the hosts, Charmin Prince. 

B:
[00:00:24 - 00:01:39]
And joining me today is Cheryl Pankhurst, another host. And we are so grateful you're here to spend some time with us today. We typically start off just a quick grounding that just brings us together, centers us, and allows us to just be present. And so if you're not driving and you're able to close your eyes, if not, just take a deep breath in through the nose, then just using your senses, you're going to feel the ground under your feet. You're going to feel supported by your chair. You're going to feel the air in your nose, any smells, any sounds. And Exhale long and slow. Can we do that one more time just to be with us and for us to be with you? And long Exhale. And we're back. Blink your eyes open. And welcome to this episode. 

A:
[00:01:40 - 00:01:47]
Thank you for that, Cheryl. Thank you for that Brendan exercise. How have your week been? 

B:
[00:01:47 - 00:02:16]
You know what? It's been a bit of a crazy week. My 82 year old mother had some cataracts surgery because she had cataracts. So I spent some time with her in the city, which is about an hour and a half away. And it's nice to spend that time with her, but it is nice to get home, too. But it's been a good week. We've had some nice weather. I've done some nice golfing, and it's been a good week. How about you, Sharminghen? 

A:
[00:02:16 - 00:02:26]
I've had a great week. I did a lot of work, spent some time with myself. I even planted some seedlings. 

B:
[00:02:26 - 00:02:44]
Oh, very good. That's therapeutic. I love to garden. Yeah. I couldn't tell you the name of any plant or any weed, and I probably don't know the difference, but to get my hands dirty and get down in the dirt and start yanking stuff out and making stuff like clean man, it's just so therapeutic for me. I love it. 

A:
[00:02:45 - 00:02:49]
Yes, I did. But I planted in pots. 

B:
[00:02:50 - 00:03:07]
I agree. I agree. So you sent me an article this week. We were planning to talk about this topic, but a very disturbing and concerning article. You said, do you want to share what we're talking about today? 

A:
[00:03:10 - 00:03:21]
Artificial intelligence. Yes. When I sent you that, when you read that article, Cheryl, what came to mind? 

B:
[00:03:23 - 00:04:13]
Well, maybe we describe the article first, because what I'm going to say is I feel like we get so far ahead of ourselves in technology that we always have to backpedal because we don't think about the safety concerns, the negative concerns. We see this opportunity and we jump in it and we go full force. And then we have to put the brakes on, because now people are getting hurt. People are, you know, it just becomes a danger. And I feel like we get, we just jump into these, these things and artifact. That article you shared with me for AI is one of the things that made me go, here we go again. Yeah, yeah. 

A:
[00:04:13 - 00:04:49]
When I saw the article, I know we've been in discussion about this topic or discussing AI. I sent you the article, and as I read the article, I have a nephew in law who is so, so skeptical of AI. And his words just kept occurring in my head, like what he was saying, and I've been arguing with him. But why don't you tell our listeners about the article? 

B:
[00:04:50 - 00:07:16]
So basically, what's happening with AI is whoever has been operating it has been able to replace women's heads with different bodies. They call it deep porn. Or putting them in like, a pornographic scene, using their face and somebody else's body, or disrobing them, using AI, obviously, without permission. And just to read that and to think, okay, now our pictures that are posting our own photographs, what can happen with that? Anyone can get a hold of it, just like they can get a hold of your phone number or your address, or your credit card. Now they can get a hold of your images and turn them into something that is completely inappropriate, really scary. And yet this whole AI concept, when I first learned about it, at first I didn't even what it was, to be honest. And then in conversation with you, Sharmin, I started really investigating it and did some chat GPT, kind of book titles, or just getting some ideas about how it worked. I thought, this is really cool. And coming out of the education system, there's been a lot of controversy in my school about whether it's cheating or not cheating, and I don't think it is cheating. I don't believe that it is the same as plagiarism, because it still comes from your ideas. You do need to put in the information, you do need to extract and hopefully edit that information. So I don't see it as plagiarism. I thought it really made things, I think, accessible to a lot of people who normally would not be able to string a sentence together. But they have the cognitive ability without the expressive language ability. So they have it going on in their heads. They just couldn't get it out on paper. So I think that makes things very accessible. Great. Fantastic. And then it makes a turn, and I see this article, and I think, I'm so disappointed. 

A:
[00:07:19 - 00:08:07]
I know. But the late Stephen Hawking says that AI is beneficial, and AI will help us to attain goals you know, we never thought we could have attained. However, if humans get in the way, it's trouble. And the article that I sent you is one of those examples where humans got in the way because there is generative AI where you can do whatever with an image. You know, you can go and use that particular software to do anything with imaging, anything you can think about. 

B:
[00:08:07 - 00:08:08]
Yeah. 

A:
[00:08:08 - 00:08:47]
You know, change the heads of someone. And we've been seeing memes around social media with the, the former president Donald Trump head on different bodies. That's the same software that is being used. But when we see the comedic aspect of it, we laugh and we think it's funny. But here is the dangerous side. Here is where it's dangerous for us. 

B:
[00:08:47 - 00:08:48]
Yes. 

A:
[00:08:50 - 00:09:10]
Especially for women. Cause you can, you may not even know that you're a star of a, a porn scene unless it crosses someone who knows you. Be aware that this is happening to you. 

B:
[00:09:11 - 00:09:56]
Exactly. That's so, that just frightens me so much. And, I mean, it's women, you know, it's going to extend to children. Is it going to extend to, like, it just, that part scares me. Like, I love that we are moving forward with this technology and all of this information and software, but then, like I said, we hit this wall where the wrong people get their hands on it, and then we have to start backtracking. How do they backpack from that? How do you set up parameters? How do you set up to be able to catch, I know you can catch people doing anything these days. There's always a trail, especially with the Internet. But how do you set up barriers and parameters so people are not able to do that quite so easily? 

A:
[00:09:57 - 00:10:27]
I think AI has gotten away from a lot of countries, and they're having difficulties right now containing it, curtailing what's happening, creating laws and control, because I don't know if you're familiar with Fiverr. 

B:
[00:10:27 - 00:10:29]
Yes, I use Fiverr. 

A:
[00:10:29 - 00:10:50]
I use their kids in Asia who have never stopped in a university classroom, but they can create apps. They can create chat bots from chat GPT. 

B:
[00:10:50 - 00:10:51]
Mm hmm. 

A:
[00:10:52 - 00:11:10]
And they're using udemy. I had conversations with a couple of them, and I asked the question, where were you trained? Oh, I've never been to school. I learned from Udemy. And if you're familiar with Udemy, our course is less than $20. 

B:
[00:11:10 - 00:11:12]
Yes. Yes. 

A:
[00:11:12 - 00:11:41]
So there is no control on the AI models and the chat bots. I was listening to a documentary and one of the concerns is that no one knows what the superpowers and other countries have built with aih. 

B:
[00:11:41 - 00:11:42]
Yes. 

A:
[00:11:42 - 00:11:52]
Right. We don't know what North Korea has done with AI. We don't know what China has done with AI. No one knows. 

B:
[00:11:52 - 00:12:45]
That's right. That's a really interesting point and very scary. Yeah. What is? And there's just so many good things about it. Like you don't want to say, you know, like I said, for me, in the education system, the accessibility means so much to me. When I see a kid who would otherwise never be able to write an essay, write a paragraph, but smart, they've got the cognitive ability, they just don't have the expressive ability. This gives them so much accessibility to do that. I love that. I think that's so important. And it puts us on, I think, a level playing field in a lot of ways, and maybe people are against it because it puts us on a level playing field. 

A:
[00:12:45 - 00:12:46]
Exactly. 

B:
[00:12:48 - 00:12:59]
Yeah. That's where. Oh, I want to be inclusive, but I don't want you to be better than me. Yeah, those. 

A:
[00:12:59 - 00:13:01]
Sorry, go ahead. 

B:
[00:13:01 - 00:13:18]
Yeah, no, I was just going to say those are the things that I think about coming from my end of the education system. That's where I start thinking, oh, this is great. It's like autocorrect. It's like, you know, predictive text. It's like, this is the next level of accessibility. 

A:
[00:13:20 - 00:14:03]
And it sure is. I've never considered what you said earlier, that it places everyone on a level playing field. I did nothing even think about that. And while you're talking, you know, my mind went so many different directions. Like, that is so true, you know, because of the accessibility of artificial intelligence. I know that we started with, you know, the negative aspect of it, but they're so many benefits. 

B:
[00:14:03 - 00:14:04]
Yes. 

A:
[00:14:04 - 00:14:26]
Of artificial intelligence. We have laparospic surgeries that are being done by robots. Their surgeries, and those surgeries are successful. The recovery time has decreased. All because of artificial intelligence. 

B:
[00:14:27 - 00:14:27]
Yes. 

A:
[00:14:28 - 00:14:45]
A few weeks ago, Walmart CEO said that by 2025, 75% of Walmart's would be automated. 

B:
[00:14:48 - 00:14:50]
Now, see? And then where are the jobs? 

A:
[00:14:51 - 00:14:58]
Right. So let me get. Let's go a little further. 

B:
[00:14:59 - 00:14:59]
Yeah. 

A:
[00:14:59 - 00:16:47]
Documentaries that I have, you know, I've watched, I've read articles, they're already discussions about universal wages. Oh, yes. And I'm so happy we're having this conversation because I'm sure a lot of our listeners are like, some of the people I've spoken to, I'm not interested in that. Even though you may not be interested in it, it does not halt the advancement. That's right. It does not change that. That's the direction the world is going. And you might just be left behind, you know, in, if you're parents and you have young children, instead of sending them to school to become a doctor. I'm sorry. And, you know, a four year college, get them into artificial intelligence, let them learn machine learning, let them learn NLP, which is natural learning process. Those are the languages that AI uses, and it's just the code one and zero. And it's important because that's where the world is going. And if our children can get into that space, there is a future. Absolutely right. And they don't have to depend on the universal wages. 

B:
[00:16:48 - 00:18:53]
And just because you as a person are not interested or, and I think a lot of people are just really scared of it, so they don't even start. Right. That's where disinterest or hate or fear comes from. I just am scared of it. I don't know what it's going to do. You know, I didn't, I wasn't afraid of it. I just didn't realize what it was until I actually sat down with it and started playing with it. And that's where I started thinking, this is amazing. This is actually amazing. Not only does a robot vacuum my house, but it can help me. Right? It's just, there's a lot of different, you know, like everything else, you know, there's, there's these great leaps and bounds, and then we have to go, oh, wait a minute, we forgot about this safety issue, or we forgot about this. So let's go back and set up some barriers, you know, so it keeps people as safe as possible. But there's no, you know, my mom, who is 82, gets a call from somebody that sounds like her grandson, same voice, and says, I've been in an accident. I need some money. My partner's stepfather had the exact same call. The voice was the same. So they had been able to catch the voice and call him by the name she always called him. And it isn't, and it's only because he was very doubtful and very skeptical and wasn't interested in even helping her, if it really was her. Thank God, because this is what's happening. These poor elderly people are getting calls that their grandchildren have been in a car accident or got into trouble, and you need to send me money. And they panic and they don't have any idea what's happening, and they're losing their savings because of this kind of robotic artificial intelligence. And then you get to the other side of the coin and you think, oh, my gosh, this is changing the world for people. 

A:
[00:18:54 - 00:19:16]
It is. It is. I remember, I think, two or three years ago, I said, I think I wrote it on my Facebook page that every home should have an Alexa. Right. Because that's the introduction to artificial intelligence. 

B:
[00:19:16 - 00:19:20]
Yes, 100%. That's really smart. I like that. 

A:
[00:19:20 - 00:19:46]
Right. Especially if you have kids. They're. They're being introduced to artificial intelligence. They're understanding. A two year old can say, alexa, play, whatever, and there's so many skills and on. On the device that can help your children educationally and socially. 

B:
[00:19:46 - 00:20:21]
Yep. And you're right, if that's where it's going, period, there's no getting away from it. So you either educate them and immerse them in that world so they understand it, or you hold back where everyone else is ahead of the game, where they finally get into it and they're ten steps behind. That's where it's going. The reality is, that's where it's going. And you're right, we need to get our kids into this. So they are educated and they are aware, and they know how to access and utilize the programs. 

A:
[00:20:22 - 00:21:12]
I totally agree, and I share those sentiments because I'm on this website, and Sheryl, before Chad GPT, they were nothing as huge as chat GPT because they weren't fed all the data. Big data. But there's so many softwares, AI software out there. I think you think about it, someone has already thought about it and has created it. So there were so many softwares like chat GPT before chat GPT. 

B:
[00:21:12 - 00:21:13]
Yeah. 

A:
[00:21:13 - 00:21:46]
And now that chaat GPT, because Chad GPT is like, I don't know, chat GPT is one of the biggest. The largest. It's huge, because then the data that it was fed is huge, and it's also alert. It has natural learning process, so as we use it, it continues to grow and develop well. 

B:
[00:21:46 - 00:22:11]
And I think that the company that Chat GPT was launched by was a huge multimillion dollar company. And that's the issue, right? You've got all these other small companies that have already incorporated AI but don't have the funding. Now you get a multibillionaire company, billion dollar company, that says, here, use chat GBT. That's now my branding name. That's what we all call it now. 

A:
[00:22:12 - 00:22:12]
Right? 

B:
[00:22:12 - 00:23:03]
It's not actually chat DBT is AI, but it's their brand. And so, yeah, so now you've got this multi billion dollar company pushing chat GPT. That's why we say chat GPT. Yep, yep. Yeah. It's. I want to do a little more investigating, maybe even with chat GPT to find out if there are security measures, that people are looking at these articles and going, okay, is there a security measure we can put in place for people who are completely unknowing of what it can actually do, what they can be victims of? Can we, can we protect ourselves from that victimization? I don't know. 

A:
[00:23:04 - 00:23:21]
That's a pretty smart question to ask. I wouldn't, because there is GPT-3 and there is GPT four. GPT-3 was. And, yeah, GPtree only have information up to 2001. 

B:
[00:23:22 - 00:23:23]
Okay. 

A:
[00:23:23 - 00:23:27]
GPT four has current information. 

B:
[00:23:27 - 00:24:16]
Okay. And I was listening to a podcast about the chat GPT actually today, and they said that, you know, they're writing, they're writing newsletters and advertising for the company. So what they're implementing is telling them what their values and morals are for the company first, and then. So here's my information. Chat GPT. Here's what I want you to say. Here are my morals and values, and do it in the voice of an entrepreneur. And it just, like, it's unbelievable. And then it retains that information. So every time they go back in, say, okay, we want newsletter number 23. GBT already recalls. The morals and values are writing bile. It's just, I don't remember what I had for dinner. 

A:
[00:24:19 - 00:24:23]
You don't have the brain as the, as the software. 

B:
[00:24:23 - 00:24:24]
Oh, my gosh. 

A:
[00:24:24 - 00:24:51]
There, there's one of the softwares that came out before chat duty, that you can teach them your voice just by writing, just by feeding it the information, your information, your writing style, your voice. And eventually, whenever they, all of your output would be in your voice. 

B:
[00:24:51 - 00:25:24]
Yes. That's interesting, because when I started playing with it, I would say, okay, write an article about this in the voice of education, and it would be like dry, boring points. And then I would change it and say, with a sense of humor, and then would have this little twist where it was some dry sense of humor. Still the same type of points, but just, I was amazed. Amazed, yeah. 

A:
[00:25:24 - 00:26:01]
Yes, yes. And now they have the ones that aren't right. I have access to one. You can say, okay, I need art from you call your, your favorite painter van Gogh, and when it produces the painting, it looks like an original. 

B:
[00:26:01 - 00:26:11]
Wow. Wow. Now, I wonder what an original artist would think about that. 

A:
[00:26:12 - 00:26:16]
Exactly. Exactly. 

B:
[00:26:17 - 00:26:20]
Because that seems very different to me from a written piece. 

A:
[00:26:23 - 00:26:24]
Art. 

B:
[00:26:27 - 00:26:54]
Well, I think we need to. I think we need to look into picking something to do with chat GPT. Sure. And you know what? I'm going to. Before we talk about this again, I am going to ask chat GPT about the security measures and the dangers that can come with using chat GPT and see what comes up with that. 

A:
[00:26:55 - 00:27:14]
And I'm sure you have access to chat GPT-3. I have a software that gives me access to GPT four. And I see. We'll compare the responses. 

B:
[00:27:14 - 00:27:23]
Oh, that's a great idea. And then we'll share that. Actually, we'll do this before we release the show notes. We'll put it right in the show notes. I think that's really cool. 

A:
[00:27:24 - 00:27:24]
Yes. 

B:
[00:27:24 - 00:27:25]
Good. 

A:
[00:27:26 - 00:27:27]
Yes. 

B:
[00:27:27 - 00:27:41]
Well, this is fun. And I don't know what's. What's the main point. This is where it's going anyway. Get yourself knowledgeable, immerse yourself in it, so that you are aware of the risks and the advantages. 

A:
[00:27:43 - 00:28:01]
And do not let the risk deter you from utilizing the artificial intelligence, because there's. There's risk in everything. There is risk leaving your home in the mornings. 

B:
[00:28:01 - 00:28:02]
That's right. 

A:
[00:28:02 - 00:29:01]
But yet you still leave your home to go to work. Do not allow the risk to deter you from exploring what it has to offer or the benefits, because you don't want to be left behind. No, there is. I think this what the story I'm about to share is, like, the most extreme that I've found thus far. So a professor in one of the european countries and his wife went on the anesthesia, and they placed the chips in their wrist or in their forearms somewhere, and they hooked it up to a computer so that they can teach the computer everything about them, how they think, their biological movements, everything. Husband and wife. 

B:
[00:29:01 - 00:29:01]
Yeah. 

A:
[00:29:01 - 00:30:07]
They're both scientists. I saw the first part of the documentary. I can't wait until the other part comes out to see what happens. I don't know if they'll hear it, but that was fascinating to me, and that was one of the things that I think Stephen Hawkins warned us about, you know, and I saw the. The Starlink that Elon Musk has, where they just cut a square of your scalp and they put in the device. He has them in pigs. And you saw how it operates in the pigs. It's interesting. It's fascinating to me, and I like that, what Elon Musk has. You can put it in and you can remove it. 

B:
[00:30:07 - 00:30:07]
Yeah. 

A:
[00:30:07 - 00:30:18]
So you can try it. And, you know, if you don't like it, you can remove it. So I hope that it becomes affordable. 

B:
[00:30:20 - 00:30:25]
Yeah, I think. I think a lot of what we said is fear is not knowing. 

A:
[00:30:25 - 00:30:25]
Yeah. 

B:
[00:30:25 - 00:30:40]
So if you're scared of something, just learn about it. Immerse yourself into learning about it, because that will really will reduce the fear of knowing what the process actually is instead of avoiding it and running the other way. It's coming. 

A:
[00:30:41 - 00:30:42]
It's here. Yeah. 

B:
[00:30:42 - 00:30:47]
Gonna bowl right over us if we don't sit up and pay attention right here. 

A:
[00:30:48 - 00:31:02]
Right. We have self driving cars. You know, we have our irobots in the home. You just sit and we have our iPhone. 

B:
[00:31:02 - 00:31:03]
Yeah. 

A:
[00:31:03 - 00:31:04]
Right. 

B:
[00:31:04 - 00:31:05]
Yeah. 

A:
[00:31:05 - 00:31:14]
We don't have to clean anymore. You put the solution and everything in the irobot and you program it and it does all the work for you. 

B:
[00:31:14 - 00:31:57]
Yeah. So there's some really good things about this. Well, that was fun and interesting, and I think maybe we'll share a link to that article as well, that people get more idea about what we're talking about in that article in the show notes. And don't forget to subscribe and share if you know a friend who might be interested or find some good advice in our show. Thank you. Thank you for joining the transforming lives podcast panel, and we'll see you next time. Yep. You close.