If you are old enough to have seen 2001: A Space Odyssey, you doubtless remember the computer, the HAL 9000. HAL malfunctions and does everything it can to kill off the crew. The last astronaut standing is appropriately named “Bowman,” perhaps foreshadowing my own difficulties with artificial intelligence. At least I wasn’t in space….
My challenges were more down-to-earth. My DVR had started making an annoying buzzing sound when I paused and restarted something I had recorded, and the “cable” button on the remote had become extremely difficult to use. I requested new ones from my local provider, Charter Spectrum. A service technician arrived at the appointed hour and replaced both. He did not, however, program the remote. I was able to find directions for that online, but not all the directions were correct. For one reason or another, the function buttons didn’t all work the way they were supposed to. So, I searched for the solution online. Then the “fun” began….
It turned out that the artificial intelligence at Charter Spectrum was no better than HAL. Over the next few days, I received two different sets of directions. Both sets of directions worked for three out of four of the functions. When I finally was able to connect with a human agent, I was told they would send me new remote to replace the remote that wasn’t working. They sent the remote by FedEx. Unfortunately, they sent the new remote the wrong city and state. FedEx lost the first one, so Charter Spectrum sent a second, also to the wrong city and state. Evidently Kalamazoo sounds a lot like Missoula, so the remotes went to Missoula, not once but twice.
I do have a work-around. I can make the remote work with three out of four functions, and I can use the remote that came with my amplifier to control the sound. So far, at least, I haven’t been able to get appropriate help from Charter Spectrum. This blog, however, is more about our increasing reliance on artificial intelligence than about Charter Spectrum specifically. Charter Spectrum is just one of the corporations turning to artificial intelligence to make decisions for humans. You may have seen the story about Uber’s problem with a driverless car. Unfortunately, a pedestrian was killed when Uber’s artificial intelligence failed.
In general, I am in favor of artificial intelligence. I am also in favor of testing it thoroughly before inflicting it on an unsuspecting public. When I was younger, I would have shuddered at the thought of a “robot” driving my car for me. In those days, I wanted to be able to shift gears myself, and enjoyed having cars with a “four-on-the-floor” stick shift needing a clutch to change gears. These days, I would be very glad for a car I could operate with verbal commands for starting and setting the destination and letting the car’s AI do the rest for me.
Robotic surgery is one of the recent applications of AI that has proved successful. Robotic surgery is, at least not yet, like what we have seen in science fiction movies: Walking, talking robots that are able to do surgical procedures quickly and easily. We’ll probably get there some day, and for that to happen, we have to have a lot of “practice” with artificial intelligence in less critical situations.
No one will die if my TV remote can’t be programmed to do all its functions. And perhaps when the new one actually arrives, I will be able to program it quickly and easily. Until then, I can use two remotes to do what one is supposed to be able to do. It’s less convenient, but for years and years I drove cars that I had to shift myself. And for years and years, to change a channel I actually had to get up, walk across the room, and turn a knob on the TV. At some point, we’ll doubtless be able to change channels and sound volume with verbal commands. Until then, we’ll have to improvise or do things the old-fashioned way….
