Artificial Intelligence, AI, we have all heard out it. We have all seen it on our computers and it has popped up all on its own on our mobile phones. We hear how dangerous it can be. We have even heard that it will totally cause upheaval in our new world, something that we have to fear. These are the range of opinions offered to us.
Our speaker Monday night, Enrique Ketterer Ortiz, introduced us to some very basic ideas. He asked us about our experience with AI, and we responded with some of the silly answers it has given us. However, he warned us to ignore the films and the way it is presented in popular culture. He also gave us context, that it has been around since the sixties and even further back. That it had become popularised. Some basic facts behind AI include: that huge data centres are required, that data is scraped from the internet, that AI is basic statistics and that the words and the relationships between each individual word. Enrique also informed us that positive feelings can be revealed by AI by being associated with emotion. He also reinforced the view that it takes much research to achieve this.
AI is very useful in distilling information. He also emphasised that cross checking is required. One of the most interesting arguments Enrique raised is that young people should not be removed from AI, but taught how to use it wisely and purposefully. The numbers tell us another story:
1. $21.8b in scams reported in 2025
2. 26.5 percent of scams are for people 65+( who are 17.1 percent of the population)
3. $10 is required to be invested to clone a voice from audio
AI is here to stay and we must learn to live with it. The presentation gave us food for thought.
