How AI Works and How it will Transform our
Lives
The 25th Norfolk
Cambridge Society Public Lecture
Neil D. Lawrence
Blake Studio, Norwich
School
What is Artificial Intelligence?
What is Intelligence?
- Poorly defined.
- My definition: use of information to achieve goals more
efficiently.
- Efficiency is defined through use of less resource.
- Automated decision making: we are continuing to progress well.
The Silicon Factor
- BBC 1, London, 14th September 1980
- Series
of three programmes investigating the so-called microelectronics
revolution.
- The promise (and perils) of silicon was broadly similar to that for
AI today.
Public Definition
- Doing things that humans do.
- There is a narcissistic element to our understanding of
artificial intelligence
- It’s a shifting definition.
- Intelligence is the stuff I can do computers can’t.
Cybernetics and the Ratio Club
- Ideas came out of the Second World War.
- Researchers explored the use of radar (automated sensing)
e.g. Donald MacKay
- Automatic computation for decryption of military codes (automated
decision making) e.g. Jack Good and Alan Turing
- Post-war potential for electronic emulation of what had up until
then been the preserve of an animallian nervous system.
Figure: Science on Holborn Viaduct, cradling the Centrifugal Governor.
On
Governors, James Clerk Maxwell 1868
The Atomic Human
The Atomic Human: What Makes Human Intelligence Unique?
|
|
|
|
|
|
bits/min
|
billions
|
2000
|
6
|
|
billion
calculations/s
|
~100
|
a billion
|
a billion
|
|
embodiment
|
20 minutes
|
5 billion years
|
15 trillion years
|
Real-World AI Deployment: Lessons from Amazon
Prime Air
Human Analogue Machine
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice
Ensuring AI Serves Humanity
.
Policy Challenges and Societal Changes
The Shifting Nature of Economic Value
Economic Value Evolution
- Manufacturing → Distribution → Demand Control
- Power follows information flow
- AI amplifies demand control
AI Impact Vectors
- Information flow acceleration
- Value capture through prediction
- Worker rights evolution
Conclusion: Our AI-Driven Future
