My grandfather the mathematician
I have many fond memories of my grandfather.
Among many great things, he was a great mathematician. I remember growing up being proud of him teaching maths to British students in Suez, Egypt.
Funtime with “Pa” was us solving maths problems together. He made it fun. Seriously.
I remember his calculator. He loved it.
I remember the story…
Pa told me there was some resistance to the adoption of electronic calculators when they were first introduced. This was primarily due to concerns about their impact on traditional mathematical skills and the potential loss of jobs.
People worried that relying on electronic calculators would lead to a decline in mental arithmetic and that other manual calculating tools would become obsolete. People also worried that the introduction of electronic calculators threatened job security for those working as human computers, performing complex calculations manually.
He saw it differently.
He wasn’t threatened.
He was inspired. He was excited.
He saw it as a tool.
A tool to help him and humanity solve more complex problems, faster.
A tool to help him and humanity solve more complex problems with greater accuracy.
A tool to help him and humanity pioneer, develop and validate new theorems.
Today we can look back and recognise that people adapted and have accepted electronic calculators as an essential tool providing value and utility for many fields, including science, engineering, finance and education.
Why this story? And why now?
Parallels with artificial intelligence (AI)
There are parallels between the initial resistance to electronic calculators and the concerns surrounding AI technology today.
Concerns of job displacement, dependency on technology, ethical considerations, intellectual property, and controls and accountability… to name a few.
I don’t disagree with these concerns. Nor do I have mature or considered opinions on what’s right or wrong. It’s all still too new and all unfolding at an incredibly rapid pace.
The power of AI and open source
One thing I do know, or more appropriately should state, “believe”, is that despite these concerns, AI has the potential to bring about many positive changes, improving efficiency, enhancing decision-making, solving complex problems and uplifting overall human experiences.
To strengthen my conviction, I believe that by combining AI with open source, we can co-create to accelerate innovation, democratise access, enhance transparency, establish ethical frameworks and share responsibilities within the community.
Balancing the benefits with the risks
A challenge, among many I’m sure, lies in developing and implementing AI technologies in a responsible and ethical manner that balances the potential benefits with the risks and addresses societal concerns.
This will require collaboration between technologists, policymakers, businesses and other stakeholders to create guidelines, regulations and public awareness to ensure the responsible development and use of AI.
I’m inspired. I’m excited.
I miss you Pa.