I get it. The aim of the series is to make sophisticated and hard-to-understand advances in computing and technology less threatening to the consuming masses.
But it relies on a crazy/stupid assumption: that we can program machines to match the complexity of human behavior.
Yes, machine learning is a real thing, and it can have some really good and useful applications - as exemplified by the program, a GPS enabled navigation system can guide your driving. But beware: if the map has defaults, you'll end up in a ditch.
And yes machines can learn patterns, and yes they can generate patterns that humans would not. OK. Here is the catch: if a machine learns to mimic how Miles Davis plays, you'll get Miles Davis played back to you, with some unexpected variations. The machine is not going to give you Roy Hargrove, Kenny Dorham or Don Cherry from that input.
I concede to the documentary that AI can help people who have lost a limb live a better life and be creative and contribute to society in a positive way. It is a welcome advance in human development.
But can you please refrain from claiming unproven achievements yet. The hubris and anthropomorphic simplification is a real concern, raising unfounded expectations.
The overhyped claims of the series are misleading and dangerous: sending people to the moon and back safely is extremely difficult, to be sure. But asserting that if humankind can achieve this, then it can also deliver on the crazy promises of AI is a massive stretch. And how would the film makers explain to workers on an industrial assembly line that teaching robots to do their work is a good thing? it might be, but the proof of that is in the lived experience of the people involved: have their voices been heard?
I'm not a luddite. If harnessed for the improvement of the human condition, technological innovation can be a positive force. But a perspective that balances the costs and benefits of innovation and its impact on people must be presented. This is not the case in this glorified infomercial. 3/10 and I'm being generous.
