Jay Tuck ’68, Antioch College alumnus, author, journalist, and defense expert, was the keynote speaker in a symposium on artificial intelligence at Dayton Metro Library’s Eichelberger Forum Main Stage on July 15. The Artificial Intelligence Symposium was presented by Antioch College in partnership with Technology First, the Dayton-based technology industry trade association which is home to the region’s information technology community.
This series of planned symposia hosted by Antioch College are open to the public and designed to expand public programs, courses, and learning opportunities, locally. More information about public programs from Antioch College are available on our website.
In Tuck’s address, he defined artificial intelligence as “software that writes itself” and states that it is “1,000 times smarter” than human intelligence, moves at speeds that are 100,000 times as fast as humans think, and is capable of digesting information a million times faster than humans. Tuck describes the traditional view of software as computer language that humans wrote and humans control while artificial intelligence writes itself autonomously and independently at nearly incomprehensible speeds.
Tuck acknowledged the value offered by artificial intelligence in solving problems in healthcare, national defense, agriculture, and other vital industries that were previously difficult-to-impossible to solve. He also acknowledged that AI can improve productivity and quality of goods and services, but cautioned that there are significant threats and dangers we face as the implementation and application AI continues to grow.
Tuck states that we are passing control in top management and marketing, in high finance and federal government, in medical research and in the military to the superior cognitive capabilities of artificial intelligence. This responsibility, once relinquished, will never return to humans.
Among real and potential threats, Tuck cited facial recognition and surveillance cameras aided by AI which gather and analyze thousands of images and track the movements and habits of thousands of individuals, essentially overriding our rights to personal privacy.
Tuck’s presentation was followed by a panel discussion with Dayton-area higher-ed experts, which took and responded to questions from the audience. The panel members from other area institutions were:
- Zahangir Alom, Research Engineer, University of Dayton
- Brandy Foster, Lecturer at Wright State University College of Engineering and Computer Science
- Amy L. Magnus, Assistant Professor, Air Force Institute of Technology and Director, Quantum Autonomy Research Group
Tuck’s presentation can also be viewed at a TEDxHamburgSalon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrNs0M77Pd4
The Symposium was also sponsored by Applied Information Sciences, Cox Media Group, Oregon Printing and Communication, Yellow Springs Science Castle and WYSO Public Radio.
