I have noticed that many people see things differently, whether it is Aaron who is colour blind or relatives. Take a football match – Chelmsford City played W-s-M and the away team won 2-0. I saw the highlights and thought City were a bit unlucky – someone else said City were “awful”. Footballers are increasingly being measured in many different ways. Mo Salah is castigated after not scoring for a few games. Not everything can be measured – confidence, luck for instance. And this is where my thoughts on AI come in. Many things in life occur due to unforseen circumstances, luck and confidence. Historically I think of Agincourt and the defeat of the Armarda, both relied on the luck of the weather, as have many things in history. AI could now factor in weather forecasts, but in the real world not everything can be assessed and quantified. As a teacher I was very aware of the attempts to set targets and ignore unquantifiable aspects. How did Covid affect students education? No statistical method is foolproof. Mark Twain popularized statistical analysis in his 1907 autobiography, writing that while he found arranging figures difficult, the remark “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics” was often relevant.
So my point (eventually!) is this. AI can only analysise what is there on the worlds computers. Can it identify sarcasm or ‘winding up statements’, Proponents of AI laud the defeat of humans in games with multiple opportunities – but can it cope with infinite opportunities?