Clear+Vivid with Alan Alda Shannon Vallor: The AI Illusion
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Mar 11, 2025 
In this engaging discussion, Shannon Vallor, a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Edinburgh, dives deep into the ethics of artificial intelligence. She warns against the 'Narcissus illusion'—our tendency to blindly trust AI's insights. Vallor discusses the intriguing phenomenon of AI hallucinations, balancing the creative potential they offer with their risks. She emphasizes the need for critical examination of AI's societal impact and the importance of preserving human judgment in an increasingly automated world.
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The Narcissus Illusion
- Some AI evangelists promote a quasi-religious fiction, creating a Narcissus illusion.
- People see AI as greater than themselves, losing sight of its true nature as a reflection of human intelligence.
AI Eats the Future
- AI, based on historical data, hinders future growth by locking us into past patterns.
- Large language models, by conserving past patterns, impede the development of new human intelligence.
Bias in AI
- AI models, trained on biased data, perpetuate and amplify existing societal biases.
- These biases, often subtle, distort our understanding of the world if we rely on AI outputs.
