Blast from the Past

After my lunchtime master class, 'Auspicious AI', I got a lot of positive feedback and questions about AI. It is humbling to get comments like, 'This masterclass was invaluable for informing newbies about AI. It demystified what appears at first sight as a complicated process. I am looking forward to trying out what I have learned today. Thank you!'

Reading the feedback and emails from the participants and later people who heard about the session, I realised how confusing it must feel to be bombarded daily with new terminology, jargon, concepts and plain misinformation about any new phenomena. 

It reminded me of the early 90s when interactive media and digital designs were just buzzwords and wet dreams of us, the early adopters. 

You should have seen in the audience the faces of the hard-core education experts, professors and whatnot when I started my keynote about interactive media for corporate communications, teaching and learning. I began by inviting to the stage my three team members, Timo Ahde (17 y), Jyrki Myllylä (20 y) and Tatu Kuivalahti (17 y), who were our design team at the digital design company, To The Point Ltd, I cofounded with Tatu. 

The distinguished audience members thought it was some joke after the highly theoretical and obviously profound jabber of a professor whose name I shall not reveal. After all, she has been dead for a long time already. 

We had four computers on the stage. Tatu busied himself in connecting them with cables. AppleTalk was the only network protocol for personal computers in 1991. Windows was still in its version 2, and PCs were not supposed to be connected. MS-DOS was the "industry standard" (some standard, my ass). Those were the days.

I showed my screen with the monstrous three-eyed projector that was the epitome of presentation equipment in those days. The three other computers shared their screens with overhead projectors, which were not the highest quality of projections, but dimming the lights of the lecture theatre made the walls talk.

While I spoke about how interactions and digital delivery will revolutionise the world of communications, Jyrki created visuals for combustion engines with his paint program. At the same time, Timo copied the assets from Jyrki to his software and started to animate the motor: the intake stroke sucks the air from the cylinder, and the valve opens, letting the fuel and air in the camber. Then came the compression, and when it is tight enough, the spark plug triggers the explosion, and finally, the exhaust stroke lets the gases out. Repeat and rinse.

In front of the audience, the combustion engine started to hum. Timo added some sound effects for the suck, explosion and exhaustion to make it more life-like. Tatu wrote code that revealed the additional written descriptions of the phases, parts and impact of the process that could be shown when you click that part for the engine, and I added it from my computer while talking. Nifty. 

At the end of the talk, I copied the new little interactive learning tool to my computer. I showed it in full colour on the big projector screen, clicking the interactions live and getting applause from a few enthusiastic audience members.

'Why do you bring these schoolboys here," asked one teacher when it was time for Q&A, "we are here to understand how we can use computers for teaching and not watching some cartoons". 

I couldn't believe my eyes and ears.

Now, a similar conversation about AI is taking place on many levels of decision-making. But there is hope.

From that audience in 1991, I got The Academy of Finland and a handful of forward-thinking corporates as my new customers. So, it paid to be insulted by those who knew better.

The same goes now for AI. There are myths, fears and misunderstandings – primarily based on Chinese whispers. Technology moves on so quickly that anybody whose work is something other than AI feels left behind, confused and, in the worst case, afraid of their jobs and future. 

People love dystopias because any new phenomenon will challenge the status quo and peace. It is easier to imagine the destruction and collapse of everything we love, are familiar with and know. Those who imagine positive outcomes are labelled as wishful thinkers, tree huggers, or simply eccentric nerds. 

The world didn't end with the emergence of the steam engine. Scientists in Victorian England warned that the speed of the trains would cause severe mental health issues. 

"As Edwin Fuller Torrey and Judy Miller wrote in The Invisible Plague: The Rise of Mental Illness from 1750 to the Present, trains were believed to "injure the brain." In particular, the jarring motion of the train was alleged to unhinge the mind and either drive sane people mad or trigger violent outbursts from a latent "lunatic." Mixed with the noise of the train car, it could, it was believed, shatter nerves." – Atlas Obscura.

Funnily enough, when the phone was introduced, it had a similar response from many who knew better. And the list goes on. Radio, TV, etc, have been culprits for destruction as long as the human race has been inventing and creating anything new.

The only destruction we have seen has been caused by – not technology – but those in power. Hitler would have done his murders even without IBM's sophisticated logistic systems to make the transportation of Jews more efficient or Zyclon gas provided by IG Farben, a significant German industrial concern. 

Putin is putting men to die when he does not have enough missiles to throw at Ukraine. Netanyahu does the same to kill Palestinians. These men (Does it surprise that there are no bloodthirsty women in this league? Maybe because they give birth prevents them from mass murders) use ignorance, not technology, as their first weapon. Then, if they have access to some handy technology, they gladly get people to use them for killing. But they never pull the trigger themselves.

AI does not kill or make you redundant. People do. Leaders do. And those in power make the most of the ignorance of people. That's why Hitler wrote in his Mein Kampf, "If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it." And later, Goebbels and other henchmen of destruction have been putting this advice as their north star. This north star could be reached by following this playbook described as the OSS (Office of Strategic Services, the precursor to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)) psychological profile of Hitler:

• Never allow the public to cool off; 

• Never admit a fault or wrong; 

• Never concede that there may be some good in your enemy; never leave room for alternatives; 

• Never accept blame; concentrate on one enemy at a time and blame him for everything that goes wrong; 

• People will believe a big lie sooner than a little one; 

• And if you repeat it frequently enough, people will sooner or later believe it. (source ironically: Jewish Virtual Library)

Sounds familiar? It reminds me of Trump, Putin, Netanyahu, Xi Jinping and many others who have studied this navigation method of power.

So, did I make my case: it is not AI but ignorance about it that will cause problems. Jump on the AI train, it won’t make you mad.

Now, the ball is in the politician's and corporate boards' court. But to force them to make AI governance an enabler and not a blocker, we need to become more aware, knowledgeable and curious about it. We need rules, boundaries and guidelines, but they must be based on insights, understanding and healthy risk-taking. 

Where is your company (and your own experience) on this AI implementation ladder I put in my white paper?

Should you be climbing up from the shadows of misinformation and Chinese whispers and have some hands-on experience with AI? 

Ngā mihi

Jussi

The book of the week: The Picture of Dorian Gray

"The Picture of Dorian Gray," Oscar Wilde's masterpiece, unfurls the gripping tale of a young man blessed with otherworldly charm, entangled in a pact that keeps his beauty untouched by time whilst his portrait ages in his stead. 

An all-time favourite of mine, its narrative wields a razor-sharp critique of vanity and moral decay, themes that echo louder in today's era than ever. 

Wilde's narrative serves as a poignant reminder of the perilous pursuit of eternal youth and beauty at the expense of one's soul as we navigate a world awash with influencers peddling superficiality and deep fakes muddying the waters of truth. 

This timeless piece not only captivates with its wit but also delivers a striking commentary on the human condition, proving its enduring relevance in our digital age.

Get it from Apple Books or Amazon.