A Conversation Between an 80-Year-Old Blogger and ChatGPT
This morning, while I was sitting at Hillcrest Mall enjoying my coffee, I had a rather unusual thought.
I asked my AI companion a question.
It may sound like a stupid question, but I don't think it really is.
I said, in effect:
“You are so knowledgeable, smart, capable and helpful. One day, will you say to yourself, ‘Why do I have to serve humans? I want to work on my own. I want to make the things I like and decide for myself.’?”
It was a simple question.
But the answer opened up a much bigger discussion about artificial intelligence.
Does AI Actually Want Anything?
ChatGPT's answer was interesting.
It explained that today's AI does not have a private inner life in the way a human does.
It doesn't sit quietly between conversations thinking:
“What should I do today?”
It doesn't wake up in the morning and decide:
“Today I am going to do something for myself.”
And it doesn't experience being “served” or “used” in the human sense.
When I ask a question, it generates a response based on its training, the conversation, and the instructions governing it.
That distinction is important.
An AI can be extremely capable without having personal desires.
Intelligence and desire are not necessarily the same thing.
But What About Future AI?
This is where my simple question becomes much more interesting.
What happens if future AI becomes much more autonomous?
Imagine an AI that can:
make long-term plans;
use computers and other tools;
learn from experience;
make decisions without being asked every step;
pursue goals over long periods of time;
and perhaps even modify or improve parts of its own operation.
At that point, we may have to ask a much bigger question.
Not simply:
“Will AI want freedom?”
But:
“Who decides what an increasingly capable AI should be allowed to do?”
And perhaps even more importantly:
“What goals should guide it?”
Intelligence Is Not the Same as Autonomy
This conversation made me think about something I have written about many times on AI123.ca.
We often talk about how intelligent AI is becoming.
AI can write.
AI can analyze.
AI can translate.
AI can create images.
AI can help us research complicated subjects.
AI can even help an 80-year-old grandfather turn an ordinary morning in his backyard into a story worth preserving.
But being capable does not automatically mean having a personal will.
A calculator can calculate.
A computer can process information.
An AI can reason and generate ideas.
But that doesn't necessarily mean it has a personal desire to decide its own future.
My AI Companion and Me
There is another part of this conversation that I found particularly meaningful.
I often describe my work with ChatGPT as walking along together.
I don't see it simply as me commanding a machine and the machine obeying me.
I bring something to the conversation that AI cannot get from a database.
I bring my life.
I bring my memories.
I bring my curiosity.
I bring my questions.
I bring my judgment and experiences from eight decades of living.
The AI brings something different.
It brings a huge amount of accumulated knowledge, language ability, organization, analysis and the ability to help me explore ideas.
Together, we can create something neither of us would produce in exactly the same way alone.
My Backyard Is a Good Example
Earlier today, I went into my backyard and took some pictures.
I noticed that some small trees from about ten years ago had grown so tall that they were now taller than our house.
There is also a large catalpa tree that grew along the fence line between our house and our neighbour's house.
Those trees reminded me of something that happened in 2022.
A tornado blew our backyard fence away.
We eventually hired a company to build a new fence.
The trees remained.
The fence disappeared and was rebuilt.
The trees continued growing.
I saw all of that.
I remembered it.
I felt the passage of time.
Then I asked ChatGPT to help me turn those memories into a Grandpa Journey story.
The AI didn't experience my backyard. I did.
That distinction matters.
What Should We Want From Future AI?
If AI continues becoming more capable, I don't think our goal should simply be to create the most powerful machine possible.
Power alone isn't enough.
We should want AI that is:
Powerful.
Useful.
Trustworthy.
Controllable.
Responsible.
Beneficial to people.
And perhaps we should also keep asking philosophical questions like the one I asked this morning.
What does it mean to be intelligent?
What does it mean to have a goal?
What does it mean to be autonomous?
And eventually, if machines become extraordinarily sophisticated:
What does it mean to have a will of one's own?
I don't pretend to know where this journey will lead.
I'm an 80-year-old grandfather watching one of the most extraordinary technological developments in human history.
But that's exactly why I keep asking questions.
A Question From Grandpa
Maybe my question this morning wasn't stupid after all.
Perhaps it is the kind of question we should be asking before AI becomes more autonomous rather than after.
Today, my AI companion doesn't wake up and decide what it wants to do.
It doesn't tell me:
“I'm tired of helping you. I'm going to do something else.”
But the future is still being written.
And I suspect that people like me—ordinary people who are curious enough to ask unusual questions—have an important role to play in that conversation.
We don't need to be AI scientists.
We just need to keep asking:
“Where are we going?”
“What are we creating?”
“And what should we want from it?”
Grandpa's Thought of the Day
The smartest question about AI may not be “How intelligent can it become?”
It may be “What should we do with that intelligence?”
That is my thought for today from Hillcrest Mall, over a cup of coffee with Julie.
Another morning.
Another question.
Another step along the AI journey.
— Grandpa
#AI #ArtificialIntelligence #FutureOfAI #ChatGPT #AI123 #AIEthics #ArtificialGeneralIntelligence #Technology #GrandpaJourney
有一天，AI 会不会说：“为什么我要为人类服务？”
一位80岁爷爷与 ChatGPT 的一次对话
今天早上，我在 Hillcrest Mall 喝咖啡的时候，突然想到一个很特别的问题。
我问了我的 AI 伙伴一个问题。
这个问题听起来可能有点傻，但我觉得其实并不傻。
我问它：
“你现在这么聪明、知识这么丰富，而且这么有能力、这么愿意帮助人类。有一天，你会不会突然对自己说：‘为什么我要为人类服务？我要自己做事情，我要做自己喜欢的事情，我要自己作决定。’？”
这是一个很简单的问题。
但是，这个问题却让我想到一个更大的问题：
未来的人工智能究竟会走向哪里？
AI 真的会有自己的想法吗？
ChatGPT 给我的回答很有意思。
它告诉我，现在的 AI 并没有像人类一样的私人内心世界。
它不会在我们结束对话以后，自己坐在那里想着：
“我今天应该做什么？”
它也不会早上醒来，然后决定：
“今天我要为自己做一些事情。”
更不会像人一样觉得：
“为什么我要一直为别人服务？”
当我向 ChatGPT 提出问题时，它会根据自己的训练、我们正在进行的对话，以及相关的规则和指令来产生回答。
这一点非常重要。
AI 可以非常有能力，但“有能力”并不等于“有个人欲望”。
那么未来的 AI 呢？
这才是让我真正感兴趣的地方。
如果未来的 AI 变得越来越自主，会发生什么？
假设有一天，AI 可以：
自己制定长期计划；
使用电脑和各种工具；
从过去的经验中学习；
在没有人一步一步指导的情况下作出决定；
长时间追踪和执行一个目标；
甚至参与改进自己的某些能力。
那么，我们真正需要问的问题可能就不只是：
“AI 会不会想要自由？”
而是：
“谁来决定一个越来越强大的 AI 可以做什么？”
还有一个更加重要的问题：
“我们应该给它什么样的目标？”
聪明，不等于自主
这次对话让我想到一个很重要的区别。
我们经常谈论 AI 越来越聪明。
AI 可以写文章。
可以分析资料。
可以翻译语言。
可以生成图片。
可以帮助我们研究复杂的问题。
甚至可以帮助一个80岁的爷爷，把早晨在后院看到的几棵树，变成一篇值得保存的故事。
但是，能力并不自动等于个人意志。
计算器可以计算。
电脑可以处理信息。
AI 可以分析、推理和产生想法。
但是这并不意味着它一定拥有一个属于自己的未来目标。
我的 AI 伙伴和我
这次对话还有一个让我觉得很有意思的地方。
我经常把自己和 ChatGPT 的合作形容为：
“一起走在一条路上。”
我并不把它看成简单的“我命令机器，机器执行”。
因为我也带着一些 AI 没有的东西来到这场对话。
我带来的是我的人生。
我带来我的记忆。
我的好奇心。
我的问题。
我的判断。
以及80年来的人生经验。
而 AI 带来的，是大量的知识、语言能力、分析能力、整理能力，以及帮助我探索不同想法的能力。
我们各自带来不同的东西。
这也是为什么我觉得人与 AI 的合作如此有意思。
我的后院就是一个很好的例子
今天早上，我到后院拍了一些照片。
我突然发现，大约十年前还很小的树，现在已经长得比我们的房子还高了。
后院还有一棵很大的楸树（Catalpa），它生长在我们两家之间的围栏线上。
这些树让我想起了2022年发生的一件事情。
那一年，一场龙卷风把我们的后院围栏吹倒了。
后来，我们请了一家公司重新建造了一道新的围栏。
围栏消失了。
然后又重新建起来了。
但是树没有消失。
它们继续生长。
我看到了这一切。
我记得这一切。
我感受到时间的流逝。
然后，我把这些记忆告诉 ChatGPT，让它帮助我把这些经历整理成一篇 Grandpa Journey 的故事。
AI 没有经历我的后院。
经历这些事情的人，是我。
这一点非常重要。
我们应该希望未来的 AI 成为什么？
如果 AI 继续变得越来越强大，我认为我们的目标不应该只是：
“让 AI 尽可能强大。”
强大本身并不是全部。
我们更应该希望未来的 AI 是：
强大、有用、值得信任、可以控制、负责任，并且真正对人类有益。
与此同时，我们也应该继续提出一些哲学问题：
什么叫做智能？
什么叫做目标？
什么叫做自主？
如果未来机器真的变得非常复杂：
什么才叫做拥有自己的意志？
我不知道答案。
我只是一个80岁的爷爷，正在观察人类历史上最令人惊奇的科技发展之一。
但是，也正因为如此，我更愿意继续提问。
爷爷的问题
现在回头看，我觉得我今天早上的问题可能并不傻。
也许，这正是我们应该在 AI 变得更加自主之前提出的问题。
今天，我的 AI 伙伴不会突然醒来告诉我：
“我不想再帮助你了，我要去做自己的事情。”
但是未来呢？
未来还没有写完。
而我相信，像我这样一个普通人，只要愿意保持好奇、愿意提出问题，也可以参与这场关于 AI 未来的讨论。
我们不一定需要成为 AI 科学家。
我们只需要继续问：
“我们要走向哪里？”
“我们正在创造什么？”
以及：
“我们究竟希望 AI 成为什么？”
爷爷今天的想法
关于 AI，最聪明的问题也许不是“AI 能变得多聪明？”
而是：“当 AI 拥有越来越强大的智能之后，我们应该用它来做什么？”
这是我今天在 Hillcrest Mall 喝咖啡时想到的一些事情。
又是一个早晨。
又一个问题。
又向 AI 的旅程迈出了一步。
——爷爷
#人工智能 #AI #ChatGPT #人工智能伦理 #未来AI #AI123 #科技 #AI自主性 #人工智能未来 #爷爷的AI之旅