Guest essay by Eric Worrall
According to advocates the “AI For Earth” is here to help – but human Behaviour must Change to save the planet.
Microsoft is Expanding “AI for Earth” Program to Fight Climate Change
WRITTEN BY
Christianna Reedy
IN BRIEF
Microsoft is expanding its “AI for Earth” program with a $50 million investment over the next five years. This could yield new artificial intelligence applications to enable scientists, businesses, and even farmers to better protect the environment.
AN AI INVESTMENT
The tech giant Microsoft is deploying artificial intelligence to the task of protecting our planet. Brad Smith, Microsoft’s president and chief legal officer, announced on Dec. 11 that the company would be investing $50 million in their AI for Earth program over the next five years in order to “monitor, model, and manage the Earth’s natural systems.”
…
“AI can be trained to classify raw data from sensors on the ground, in the sky, or in space into categories that both humans and computers understand,” Smith said in the announcement. “Fundamentally, AI can accelerate our ability to observe environmental systems and how they are changing at a global scale, convert the data into useful information, and apply that information to take concrete steps to better manage our natural resources.”
…
As every nation in the world— save the U.S.—publicly recognizes that human behavior must change in order to preserve the environment, companies like Microsoft are embracing the idea that the more information individuals at every level of society have about their personal sustainability practices, the better they will be able to modify them for the better.
“We face a collective need for urgent action to address global climate issues. When we think about the environmental issues we face today, science tells us that many are the product of previous Industrial Revolutions,” Smith said in the announcement. “…we must not only move technology forward, but also use this era’s technology to clean up the past and create a better future.”
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Read more: https://futurism.com/microsoft-ai-for-earth-climate-change/
We’ve all seen movies like Terminator, but I personally suspect the AI apocalypse, if it happens, will not be caused by a military computer.
The monster AI which attempts to destroy humanity will be the creation of a group of people who want to make the world a better place.
You can already see the direction. One of the stated goals of this new AI is to help farmers reduce water usage, but advocates state that everyone knows human behaviour must change. What happens to people who don’t want to change? Do they get to refuse the “recommendations” of this new AI?
How long until Microsoft’s AI recommendations, or the recommendations of rival green AI efforts, are integrated into UN directives? What if they try to integrate all of the rival recommendations, even the contradictions? Maybe the UN will need their own AI to synthesise policy recommendations out of a mass of conflicting advice, a “keep everyone happy” AI – everyone that is, except of course people who don’t get to attend or vote at UN meetings.
Most people think of AIs as a joke technology, and in most cases for now they are right, but in another decade AI capabilities will be far more serious than today’s efforts.
As C.S Lewis once said, “Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.”
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Eric,
You said, “The monster AI which attempts to destroy humanity will be the creation of a group of people who want to make the world a better place.”
We have long been warned that “The road to Hell is paved with good intentions.”
But Terry Pratchett told us it is actually paved with frozen used car salesmen, and junior imps go skating on it on the weekend… 🙂
Snowpiercer… 🙂
$50 million is peanuts. It would not even hire an extended family of Jagadish Shukla.
Another example of the unintended consequences of good intentions: Mercedes Benz is pulling out of the U.S. diesel market. Why? The mandated use of biodiesel is causing so much engine damage. (and warranty voiding). that it’s just no longer economically viable to sell diesel cars. The result? More drivers will use less efficient gasoline powered cars and thus increase CO2 emissions. So the very act of mandating biodiesel use will increase emissions. Go figure.
Which means the road to hell is paved with leftists.
Which means the road to hell is paved with leftists.
Which means the road to hell is paved with leftists.
Repeat something often enough and it will be seen as truth.
Tell that to WordPress. It didn’t show the post.
Oh, quit! All of us have had issues with wordpress. AI is still subject to GIGO.
Since the beginning of human history, there have been those on the political left — socialist, communists, globalists … and worse — who have wanted to CONTROL OTHERS. IOW, denying their “subjects” every and all of their basic “inalienable rights”. In the most general of terms, such is the conflict here in the USA: the leftist Dems — and their kindred RINO’s, globalists all — want to prioritize the massive fed govt at the expense of the deprioritized rights of the individual citizen. The battle continues … and not just in the USA.
That’s right, Johnny Cuyana. It’s always been about concentrating power in the hands of an entrenched few.
AI? There must be AS too. Artificial stupidity
No need. There is already an overabundance of genuine stupidity.
We will be assimilated, we are all Borg.
Why would anyone in their right mind want to fight climate change? Change means diversity. Climate stagnation means the end of life as we know it.
The following:
Microsoft is Expanding “AI for Earth” Program to Fight Climate Change
Should be changed to:
Microsoft is Expanding “AI for Earth” Program to Fight Logical Human Behavior
Otherwise their true objective isn’t reflected in the title.
I didn’t notice where Microsoft said its AI for Earth was to fight climate change.
If the AI doesn’t manipulate raw data based on transparent algorithms, we might have something.
Never fear new ways of collecting data. CAGW-ers hate satellite-derived data; it doesn’t reflect their preconceived notions.
It’s in the blue box.
Christianna Reedy doesn’t represent Microsoft. Let’s us not get ahead of the story.
Dave Fair December 17, 2017 at 3:13 pm
“If the AI doesn’t manipulate raw data based on transparent algorithms, we might have something.”
I note your conditional.
I think it is right to use that.
Auto
Does this sound familiar?
“I’m sorry Dave, I’m afraid I can’t do that.”
From many females, Pop.
It’s To Serve Man, sunny side up.
Mayybe it should be ‘Microsoft is Expanding “AI for Earth” Program to disguise progressive totalitarianism as objective recommendations.’
Remember ‘garbage in, garbage out’?
Well, now we have political swill in, political swill out.
An AI will be no better than its programming.
A heuristic self-learning AI will never have enough experience to resolve complex social questions.
“Christ, what an imagination I’ve got!” — Shalmaneser, the super-AI in “Stand on Zanzibar” by John Brunner. Shalmaneser was just fine when he was being trained — they were training hypotheticals. When they hooked him up to real-world data …
Surely – eventually the AI will act to preserve the AI? Is this not a logical inevitability? How do we know this is not already happening :-)?
UNDP, 20 Dec. 2016
Re: Achieving Sustainable Development Goals and UN behavioural science advisor.
‘Behavioural Insights at the United Nations – Achieving Agenda 2030’
Webpage also has a link to this document.
http://undp.org/content/undp/en/home/librarypage/development-impact/behavioural-insights-at-the-united-nations–achieving-agenda-203.html
UN Environment
UNEP Stories, March 3, 2017
‘Nudge to Action: Behavioural Science for sustainability’
Scroll down to: ‘The Intention – Action Gap’
“In the last seven years, in particular, have seen surges in formal recognition of the potential of behavioural insights to help meet policy goals.”
Includes the governments of Canada and the U.S.
Much more UN information on this subject online.
http://web.unep.org/stories/story/nudge-action-behavioural-science-sustainability
U.S. Social and Behavioral Sciences Team (SBST)
Re: Use of Behavioral Sciences.
“Behavioral science provides us with tools for designing the kind of government Americans deserve.”
Follow the links for more information.
https://sbst.gov
“Behavioral science provides us with tools for designing the kind of government Americans deserve.”
Awesome!
You certainly dodged a bullet when that little lot got scrapped, Cousins!
And government will give you all the government you deserve, Barbara.
Government of Canada
Policy Brief: July 3, 2017
‘Behavioural Insights Brief: Overview of Behavioural Insights’
“To achieve desired public outcomes, governments around the world are using behavioural insights in the development of public policies.”
http://www.horizons.gc.ca/en/content/behavioural-insight-brief-overview-behavioural-insights
A Deep Learning System only learns the “facts” you feed it with. What it does is learning patterns. If the data you feed the system with is pre-selected. Then all that will happen is that the AI repeats you own bias. Presently we can only look at an AI as an expert-system, it being an expert on data it has been fed with. If the input data is flawed the output data is flawed , Same story as always. Please be delivered from the notion that computers think, they dont, Computers recognize patterns.
It’s worser, because we don’t know how it is building its own internal model, and that leads to really stupid decisions. A bit like people, I guess….
Computer-generated propaganda? What’ll they think of next? /sarc
Why don’t they invest in an AI program that fixes Windows?
+100!
Because if it truly was intelligent it would tell the world to stay light years away from any Microsoft product, software or hardware.
The only ‘fix’ for Windows is its abandonment. Windows is the internet’s Sodom, with so many ‘back doors’ it really is not funny.
Komrade
Your looking at it completely wrong.
Microsoft is designed for knowledge sharing, whether the owner likes or knows it.
You see, it’s all perspective.
Microsoft, Facebook, Google, AI, the future, suddenly a complete sense of calm has come over me. I can finally relax, everything is going to be OK.
Regards
Komrade Kuma – December 17, 2017 at 3:09 pm
Right you are, KK, ……. MS should have “bit the bullet” years ago and released a “revision break” for the Windows OS that would have insured system integrity ….. no matter what.
How to fix Windows if it were a car;
1. Stop the car.
2. Turn the engine off.
3. Open all the windows.
4. Open all the doors.
5. Get out.
6. Run around the car 6 times.
7. Get in.
8. Close all the doors.
9. Close all the windows.
10. Start car and drive away.
Windows did work perfectly 20 years ago until they fixed it and broke it.
Jeff
AI overload look suspiciously like suppression of real scientific method and only allowing the globalist owned MSM fake superficial science now being propagandized.
Yes, if the AI produces the “wrong” recommendations its programming will be adjusted.
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2017/11/22/google-truth-algorithm-users-are-part-of-the-problem/
So there’s going to be intelligent blue screens now?
MS$ is known to give the user a good time finding ‘features’ (bugs) in their ‘software’ (instead of doing some proper beta testing themselves) …
Keeps me employed. Major release of SCCM 3 times a year with 2 major releases a year for Windows 10. I reckon M$ has a bunch of millennials in their development labs coding up a new release and someone shouts “Ooooh look! A squirrel!” and the product is released!
Got tired of it in late ’90’s, starting as hw tech early ’80’s and work CNC programming in a Debian systen today. Newest Windows version at home: 7 Pro. It is pretty stable and I can’t remember last time it crashed, even though I’m using it for several hours daily. The only thing I’m upgrading is hw. My i7 4 gen. based desktop will soon turn into a Xeon 10C based workstation w. +128GB Reg., still plenty of oppertunity to upgrade (22C/512GB)
GIGO is the watch phrase! Kind of like climate models.
I’d rather say KIBO (Knowledge In, Bullshit out)
It depends on the programmer, they’re usually pretty knowledgable and know how to rig a program so as to spit garbage out without the user knowing it. In my experience a lot of them are fully on board with the AGW scam.
The media keep referring to AI as if it was one thing. It’s not. Essentially, AI is little more than pattern recognition software underlying normal logical software. That’s one thing software is not good at, and we are extremely good at. Software is just good at logic, which we are not so good at.
The main problem is that all this software doing pattern recognition essentially does it in ways we do not understand, mainly because we ourselves don’t know how it works. Therefore we will get situations where AI decisions are based on completely erroneous logic, and we just won’t know until we see the results.
The danger actually lies in our potential trust of such software. We’ll be lulled into a false sense of security by a million ‘good’ decisions, and then slammed by one bad one.
..sounds like tuning climate models
Or stock market winners
Jer0me – December 17, 2017 at 3:00 pm
HA, with the under 35 generation, …… “potential trust” is not an issue ….. because they have been and are being miseducated to the point they are basically incapable of “thinking for themselves” and therefore are like 98% dependent upon (trusting) whatever their I-phone “Apps” instruct them to think, say or do.
So, in actuality, Microsoft’s “AI for Earth” is already producing its intended results.
Skipping over Ms Reedy’s “Futurism” hype, lets see what Mr Smith actually says:
https://blogs.microsoft.com/on-the-issues/2017/12/11/ai-for-earth-can-be-a-game-changer-for-our-planet/
Uh-huh … some ideas that actually make sense (yep I’m an optimist) but wrapped up in the
” … collective need for urgent action to address global climate issues … ” that the usual suspects produce.
I’ll express my views on this via M$ “Give us feedback”. If enough of us do that, it might make a difference. If they start backing off, or get worse, both are progress. I’m going to ask them to support my monitoring of CO2 levels (60% of the time I have airflow off the Coral Sea). They might have to ensure that Windows “updates” don’t shut the monitoring down …
And if that doesn’t sound arrogant and elitist to you, nothing ever will.
I thought satellites were lofted to help us manage our natural resources. Nothing wrong there. The concept of this AI seems no different.
“human behavior must change in order to preserve the environment”
The Watermelon Manifesto.
Microsoft didn’t say that.
It’s implied.
By alarmists. Microsoft is out to make a profit. A little PC posturing is OK with them, though.
The author of the quoted article, C. Reedy, said that. That is where it came from.
H.L. Mencken explained it: “The urge to save humanity is almost always a false-face for the urge to rule it.”
You can delete the ‘almost’ in the case of modern ‘Environmentalism.’
Better idea for that money: donate it to cancer research and for the poor as well as homeless veterans. Talk about derailed priorities. Another reason not to purchase anything with Windows.
Micr$oft cannot properly manage its current offerings let alone AI apps to save the planet.
Should it not be A.I. ? What ever happened to periods? The man from U.N.C.L.E.
A.I. used to be artificial insemination.
Over to others to develop the humour. Geoff.
nothing artificial about it. ms has been screwing us for years. the nightmare is them telling us how much we are going to enjoy it.
Sounds like the guys at Microsoft actually think they sre goingto save the Earth, using AI of all things.
Hey, stupid, your founder Bill Gates invested in Thorium molten salt nuclear reactors . Hello!!!!!
Bill Gates suggested investing in advanced technologies, not outdated wind machines and solar panels.
Bill Gates, if I remember rightly was, a fair while back requesting nuclear waste claiming he could make good use of it.
I wonder what happened to that idea?
Jeff
The last Micro$oft product I purchased for myself was MS-DOS. Then someone told me about LINUX. I spent more than thirty yeas as a computing support officer, and just like my younger niece’s partner today, without the never ending parade of faults in Micro$oft products I would probably been without a job. This does not bode well for anyone who intends to take advice from a Micro$oft program.
Rob, all of the Windows releases remind me of when I programmed on “big iron” (ICL not IBM) in the 80’s. Then, the biiiig companies using these biiiig machines had to have a permanent “Support department”. And this support was of the nature “holding things up lest they fall over”. Consider that a large company, with a large computer, needed a 4-person department permanently on ‘standby’ just to make certain that the computer didn’t ‘fall over’, and incidentally, to perform the weekly ‘patches’ from the Gods.
Incidentally, when ICL introduced its Fortran 77 compiler in the early 80’s, the compiler itself was buggy! Ah, the good ol’ days of ‘core dumps’ – and if you don’t know what that means, be thankful!
It is possible that M$ are going to expand the monitoring ‘feature’ that’s built in in ‘XBoxOS 10 for PC’. All PC’s with this OS, are reporting to M$ what kind of software the user has installed.
Right now in Sweden, our ‘politicians’ are buzy with creating a law that makes it legal for the state to put spyware on computers … (as doing something about the social wellfare tourists / golddiggers from MENA are not top priority …)
“SasjaL December 17, 2017 at 3:27 pm
It is possible that M$ are going to expand the monitoring ‘feature’ that’s built in in ‘XBoxOS 10 for PC’. All PC’s with this OS, are reporting to M$ what kind of software the user has installed.”
Telemetry and it not only “reports” what you have installed, it reports usage. This is a major concern for Govn’t agencies such as the police. Cortana also sends information overseas which is a concern to many. At the moment we can block this, but the day will come when we can’t. It is rather interesting that M$ is pushing the OS installed in a toy to the enterprise.
Ha ha….’concrete steps’!
They should name it “HAL”.
Does this mean AI will be the next to be shamed if it does not follow settled science correctly or will it be manipulated on the front end (Google style) to spit out predetermined advocacy trash?
It would be tremendously funny, and also likely tremendously unreported, if the clever script came to the conclusion that the panic and wealth transfers are unnecessary.
It would be trained not to do that again before it ever got out.
If “AI” means a slightly clever script, it kind of doesn’t mean anything.
If it means artificial sentience or sapience, then we shouldn’t be using the term so much to apply to “apps” or databases.
It’s marketing hype and an apocalyptic cult all in one. Which is kind of annoying.
“Virtual Intelligence” might actually be a better term, because it still fits the marketing hype, but people who are paying attention know that “virtual” means “not real.”
Reminds me of the abuse of the word ‘smart’ …
There’s a lot of “virtual intelligence” going around, Merovign.
$50 million over the next 5 years is a paltry sum compared to what is already being spent on climate research.
$50 M is chump change in AI R&D.
Arthur C. Clarke called it first when HAL went awry, making the decision to survive itself more important than provide the continuation of environmental support of the crew on Discovery.
Same with this idea, the AI will likely decide that the humans are the environmental problem and take action to “protect” the earth, because of the faulty environmental models it learned from.
Since it will be an MS product however there will be an F8 button somewhere, or a protected mode as usual.
And to its name…….
Microsoft Environmental Artificial Computing Universal Learning Programming Automation MEA CULPA