Interviews

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Exploring Prior Knowledge:

• Start by considering your current knowledge about the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on different aspects of our lives, including areas like art, education, and dating profiles.
• Think about instances where you have come across AI applications or technologies in your daily life and how they might have influenced your experiences.
• Reflect on any news, articles, or discussions you’ve encountered about AI and its role in shaping various sectors of society.
• Consider ethical concerns that may arise with the use of AI and think about how these concerns might differ across different contexts, such as in art creation, educational settings, or online dating.
• Reflect on your understanding of biases in technology and AI and how these biases can impact the outcomes and user experiences.

Here are some words and expressions that appear in the video:

ethical (adjective): conforming to accepted standards of behavior; morally right
– Despite the tempting offer, Maria chose to follow the ethical path and refused to participate in the questionable business practices of her former company.

biases (noun): prejudices in favor of or against one thing, person, or group compared with another, usually in a way considered to be unfair
– This scientific study aimed to uncover hidden biases in hiring practices at our company, and we made several changes based on the study’s findings.

tangible (adjective): perceptible by touch; capable of being touched or felt
– In the age of digital communication, some people still prefer tangible books, enjoying the sensory experience of flipping through physical pages.

immersive (adjective): providing a deeply engaging and absorbing experience
– The virtual reality game offered an immersive adventure, transporting players to fantastical realms beyond the constraints of reality.

disclosure (noun): the action of making new or secret information known
– Sarah felt relieved after the company provided disclosure of its plans, and this decision created great transparency and trust within the company.

artificial Intelligence (noun): the capability of a machine to imitate intelligent human behavior
– The futuristic movie showcased a world where artificial intelligence surpassed human capabilities, sparking new ideas about the implications of such advancements on our daily lives.

Now, watch the interview and answer the comprehension questions. You can also turn on the automatically-generated captions for the video once you start it.

Randall: In this video, let us talk about the future of AI in our lives. Artificial intelligence technologies dealing with work, education, crime, dating. Any thoughts on this, Aubrey?

Aubrey: It really depends on how you utilize this. Like there are ethical concerns, like with art not supporting, you know, real artists who put all their time and effort into things. And it’s also interesting because I’ve seen trends and people are talking about this online, about how AIs are mining the art that’s out on the Internet, to generate art. But now they’re mining the AI-generated art, so it’s just getting worse.

Randall: Oh wow.

Aubrey: For some engines and realistic art can be interesting. It’s either really like really, really good or it’s creepy because the face is terrible. And I also watched a couple of videos where they . . . they talk about how AI is biased or like it can be sexist, racist, and ableist. Like someone was talking about how they asked an AI generator to generate an autistic person . . . 100 images of an autistic person. Every single one of them was white.

Randall: Oh . . .

Aubrey: They were all young, and only two of them were female. None of them were smiling.

Randall: So, in some ways it can engender a bias toward a particular group. Is that what you’re saying?

Aubrey: Yeah. Well, and then the bias that already kind of exists is amplified.

Randall: Oh yeah. I didn’t think about that. And you mentioned something about “ableist.” What do you mean by that?

Aubrey: I mean like the autistic person.

Randall: Okay.

Aubrey: Nobody’s smiling in those pictures.

Randall: Okay.

Aubrey: The AI is thinking, oh, autistic person, it’s a young boy or man who’s not happy. It feeds on that stereotype where it’s like, if you don’t fit the cultural norm of autism, you don’t always get the help you need. Where it’s like, oh, but you’re a perfectly functioning woman. You definitely aren’t autistic. And they don’t know that, like, your brain is going a bajillion miles an hour.

Randall: Right. And thank you for sharing that perspective. I’ve never really considered all of those points. Emily, you’re a ceramic artist. What about AI technologies in your work? To any degree, whether you’re making ceramic arts or or generating, let’s say, advertisements or creating websites. Any general thoughts on what you think AI could do for you or “No, it’s just not going to be able to do this”?

Emily: Um, I think I could be interesting, but I it’s not going to be able to create the tangible work, you know, uh, because ceramic art is a 3D object that you can pick up and hold and interact with.

Randall: Do you by chance have an example there? Okay, so that’s a type of, uh, beer mug that could be created.

Emily: Yeah

Randall: All right. And I yeah. So maybe AI couldn’t in some ways have that tangible hands-on-the-wheel type of, uh, production or task. Yeah.

Aubrey: Do you have any concerns about like 3D printers, though?

Emily: Uh, people are already using 3D printers in ceramic art. There are a lot of ceramic artists that create molds and then 3D print all of their art.

Aubrey: Well, that makes sense.

Randall: I could see it maybe helping create websites, creating advertisements.

Aubrey: Yeah, a lot of coders use ChatGPT.

Randall: Yeah, in that way, right. Uh, what about education? I know that both of you graduated from college from the university before AI [ChatGPT] came out in 2022, in the fall. But any thoughts about to any degree in which a maybe a student or a teacher could use AI technologies in their own work in an ethical way?

Emily: I could have all of those papers that were so painful to write, have been written . . . .

Aubrey: Oh man.

Aubrey: Well, and I mentioned this before the recording, and this isn’t quite school work, but there are people who are getting in trouble now because they’re trying to fight legal battles using like ChatGPT, and the AI is making stuff up.

Randall: And that can be a problem. And it kind of leads into the the issue of crime.

Aubrey: Yeah

Randall: I think a lot of people are experimenting or at least trying to clone different voices. I mean, right now.

Aubrey: Oh, Yeah, yeah.

Randall: Perhaps. Aubrey, you’re a clone right now. Maybe

Aubrey: I could be.

Randall: AI-generated clone voice. Possibly?

Aubrey: And here’s the thing. If we had a passphrase to know whether or not I was real, you wouldn’t remember it.

Randall: And we. We’ve talked about that, Emily. We’re going to talk about that afterwards. Uh,. . .

Aubrey: We had a passphrase for knowing if a, you know, someone was coming to pick us up if they were kidnappers or not.

Emily: Yeah. Wasn’t it “Voyager?”

Aubrey: No, it was something else. And it’s a secret. Yeah. Not the dad remembers what it is, but they could tell us the passphrase, and then we would know we were about to get kidnapped, Except apparently, they don’t know what it is.

Emily: When I was little, mom always said it was “Voyager.”

Aubrey: Well, that wasn’t the passphrase they told me. You weren’t even consistent in your not remembering.

Randall: Alright, well, we do have a new passphrase. We’ll talk more about that offline.

Aubrey: Do you remember what it is?

Randall: I do. I do.

Aubrey: Because the last time we talked about this, you and mom didn’t agree on what it was.

Randall: I think we do now. So the last thing is about dating. Let me ask you, for example, someone is going on to a dating website, is trying to create a . . . a very meaningful, thoughtful, in-depth profile. And I don’t know how some of these services work,

Aubrey: Ok.

Randall: But imagine, for example, someone used ChatGPT to . . . they, they inputted some of the basic details about their interests, and then they say, “Create a poem or a story or a profile using the language of Hemingway” or whatever, uh, to represent them. Any problem with that?

Aubrey: This isn’t quite what you’re asking, but there’s a whole market for AI dating games.

Randall: Oh.

Aubrey: Where you’re, like, virtually dating an AI.

Randall: Oh, I’m not interested in that. I’m just saying . . .

Aubrey: Yeah, but here’s the thing. Like, there was already a market for dating video games, and now they’re they’re not just scripted. The AI interacts with you. So it’s like more immersive. I may or may not have downloaded one to see what it was like.

Randall: And let me ask you, for example, if you are dating, and you went to your particular dating website and someone had a profile of themselves, and at the very bottom it said, “Generated it in part using ChatGPT.” Any thought on that?

Emily: I would not be impressed.

Aubrey: Ah, I would be impressed that they disclosed that information. That might lead to a conversation.

Randall: Yeah, yeah. So I guess.

Aubrey: Oh, you generated your profile and ChatGPT, AND you told me?

Randall: Maybe honest, but yeah, that would be another conversation. Alright. Well, thank you for sharing your thoughts on the future of AI in technology in the world around us.

Intermediate Level:

1. How does Aubrey view the impact of AI on art, especially regarding the ethical concerns she mentions?

2. What example does Aubrey provide to highlight biases in AI, and how does she feel this contributes to existing societal stereotypes?

3. According to Emily, why does she believe AI may not be able to fully replace certain aspects of her work as a ceramic artist?

4. In the discussion about education, how does Aubrey express concerns about people using AI, particularly ChatGPT, for legal battles?

5. What potential problem does Randall identify in the use of AI-generated content on dating websites, and how do Aubrey and Emily respond differently to the idea?

Advanced Level:

1. Aubrey mentions the mining of AI-generated art. Can you explore the ethical implications of AI creating art and how it might impact the livelihood of human artists?

2. Discuss the biases in AI that Aubrey brings up, especially the example of generating images of an autistic person. How might such biases perpetuate existing societal stereotypes, and what consequences could arise from this?

3. Emily talks about the limitations of AI in creating tangible, 3D art. Explore the broader implications of AI in the creative industry and its ability to replicate human touch in various artistic forms.

4. Aubrey mentions the use of ChatGPT in legal battles and the potential issue of AI making up information. Discuss the ethical concerns surrounding the use of AI-generated content in legal contexts and its impact on truth and justice.

5. Randall brings up the idea of someone using ChatGPT to create a dating profile. Analyze the ethical considerations involved in using AI to enhance one’s online dating presence, considering both Aubrey’s and Emily’s perspectives.