Co-founder and CEO of knowledge technology company, Shelf, Perrotta has 12 years of experience as an AI practitioner. A former US Peace Corps volunteer and Founders Institute mentor, he has spoken and written about the responsibilities, challenges and future opportunities of AI.
While AI can be scary, the reality is that it has been developed by us. We create models that drive AI, and these models are not something outside of us. They do not control the world. The responsibility really lies with us to ensure that those who are developing the models are held accountable.
Ever since the advent of writing, there has been a momentum of force driving the development of technologies that augment our ability to think, create, build, communicate, and manifest collectively. AI is a part of this momentum, and is the result of a convergence of technologies, acceleration, and change.
Five macro trends are currently driving the development of technology. Each trend builds on the other, and they are in a motion that is accelerating. Because they are very decentralized, they are, at this point, beyond any single human’s control.
First: the evolution of computers which began with the abacus 5,000 years ago has accelerated very quickly over the last several decades through the development of the microchip. This physical object is the foundational building block on which all digital devices, data and AI are built.
Second: the development of the cloud has made AI the fastest adopted technology in human history. Before the cloud hardware for major projects would take weeks to set up and cost tens of thousands of dollars. Now, any type of computing resource can be instantly accessed faster, at much less cost, and at scale.
Third: the cloud has led to global connectivity and the acceleration of mobile and connected devices, including wireless-enabled wearable Fitbits.
Fourth: all these devices are generating tons of data. As the data increases exponentially, and the countries producing the data expand, we discover new patterns and recognize connection points within the data.
Fifth: an exponentially increasing computing power, an exponentially increasing number of devices and exponentially increasing amounts of data that we can process, see patterns, and understand in new ways has led to what we are today calling AI: the wide range of “intelligent” behaviours that are modelled and derived from data.
2023 was the breakthrough year when these trends crossed the threshold for affordability and adoption and for the first time, through Generative AI, models neared human performance in writing, summation, sensory perception and so on. Updating a quote from Steve Jobs, we can say that if a computer is a “bicycle for our minds”, then AI is the equivalent of a supersonic jet.
Video at: https://bit.ly/3v2UB3q
