Misadventures on the tech front
TECHNOLOGY is simply indispensable in today’s world, but it doesn’t always simplify life. Sometimes, it leaves us red-faced and gives us a ‘hold my beer moment’.
One of my friends started using an app for translation as part of his official work. One day, he translated a document from Punjabi to Hindi with the help of artificial intelligence (AI). When he read it, he first laughed and then thanked God that he was able to spot the blunder. The document he translated contained the surname of a senior officer, which was incorrectly translated as ‘chiknayi’ (greasiness). Had he overlooked it, his job would have slipped out of his hands — just like some greasy object.
Recently, another friend shared his horrendous experience with a speech-to-text app. While texting his colleagues, he said, “Finish your job and message me in the evening.” However, the app misunderstood and changed it to “Finish your job and massage me in the evening.” Luckily, someone informed him immediately, and the error was rectified before things got awkward. But imagine the flood of weird looks he would have got!
And then there are autocorrected messages, which often turn out to be loose cannons. Some new mothers have complained that Alexa played indecent content instead of what they expected — baby videos.
It is difficult to survive without technology. It is everywhere, right from powering our smartphones to driving our cars. Therefore, close monitoring of the tasks it performs is vital. It doesn’t matter how advanced our technology is or will become; AI can be a force multiplier only with human intelligence (HI). For example, the global positioning system (GPS) powered by AI sometimes takes us to the wrong address or shows a lengthy route that could be just a five-minute drive.
Anyway, both AI and HI can learn from each other and improve over time. AI can handle large-scale data processing and automate tasks, but human judgment is vital for ensuring accuracy and appropriateness. This synergy between AI and HI allows us to harness the full potential of technology while mitigating risks — like ending up with ‘massage’ requests instead of professional ones.
In essence, while AI can greatly enhance efficiency and capabilities, the role of human or natural intelligence in reviewing and guiding its outputs cannot be overemphasised. Both AI and HI must continue to learn from each other to advance and improve. Humans are not perfect — nor are machines.
Technology is a blessing and a curse too. It’s mostly a blessing, but we will need a few more advancements before we can implicitly trust it to send out professional texts without the dangerous ‘grease’ factor.
