It flashes blue, then it’s there: the image of the future. Prof. Toby Walsh (57), one of the world’s leading lights of artificial intelligence, appears as a hologram on the stage of the Dresden Museum of Hygiene. Actually, he is based in Australia. Even in the BILD interview, he is 10,000 miles away.
BILD: What is artificial intelligence (AI) anyway?
Dr Toby Walsh: “It’s not very well defined. It’s an attempt to make computers do things that would be too complex for humans. So it’s about seeing, hearing, touching the world and so connecting decisions and actions. When it comes to strictly defined tasks “Like playing chess or reading aloud, computers master this better than we do. Our brain, with its billions of neurons, is nevertheless the most complex thing on the planet. Computers don’t have our emotional intelligence either.”
BILD: So why do we need AI?
walsh: “For all the work that begins with a “d” in dirty English (dirty), boring (monotonous, boring), dangerous (dangerous) and difficult (difficult). Think of robots in mines or at the bottom of the sea or on the assembly line… Technology will be the most transformative thing in the next 50 years! According to estimates by PriceWaterhouseCoopers, working with AI should increase gross domestic product worldwide by 30 percent. That’s $ 15 trillion, the gross domestic product of China and India combined! It’s like creating a new continent.”
Four times there, never real: Professor Walsh’s virtual appearance in Dresden
BILD: When are machines superior to us?
Walsh: “For my book*, I asked 300 experts from around the world what they estimate when that will be the case. The average answers gave the year 2062.”
BILD: And how should one imagine the future then?
Walsh: “Not like in science fiction movies, anyway. I really don’t like them very much. Except for HER, where a man falls in love with his female OS, that doesn’t seem unreasonable to me. We have to realize that AI will be the interface of all our devices. Instead of turning on the light, we say, ‘Alexa, turn on the light!’”
BILD: Aren’t we forgetting to think about ourselves?
Walsh: “It’s always a compromise between what computers give us and what they take away from us. You give us b.g. time by taking on jobs. And they give us more humanity.”
BILO: Excuse me?
Walsh: “Only humans can fall in love. And interpersonal relationships are increasingly important in a technological world. Like art, craft. Take a look at the hipster culture, where craft cheese or craft beer is all the rage. We will also pay the carpenter more and more money for his handmade things, rather than mass-produced products, because only he can tell us the history of wood, how it is made, etc.
The Dresden Hygiene Museum shows an exhibition on artificial intelligence until November 6
BILD: A personal question: Are you religious?
Walsh: “No. I am a humanist.”
BILD: And how high-tech should I imagine your home will be?
walsh: “I have a mobile phone. But only because my wife (a German, ed.) insists. And she also wants an Alexa from Amazon. But that doesn’t come to my house. The machines prevent me from thinking.”
* “2062, the year in which AI will be our equal”, Riva-Verlag, 22 euros. The “Artificial Intelligence” show can be seen at the Dresden Hygiene Museum until November 6.
The AI professor from the other side of the world
British Prof. Toby Walsh (57) lives with his German wife in Sydney (Australia) and researches the future and the use of artificial intelligence. He is in demand all over the world, 2016-2020 ua also a research project at the TU Berlin.
In Australia, he is currently investigating trustworthy and transparent artificial intelligence systems that still protect human privacy. This should result in guidelines for policy, as computers are increasingly taking over the work of government agencies.
How to stop aging with artificial intelligence
Forever Young! Am I as young as I feel? And how to prolong youth?
Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology have developed a test that anyone can use to determine their biological age at home.
The pointer of the clock of life can be read with a cotton swab from the oral mucosa. The level of DNA contamination provides researchers in the laboratory with statements about biological age. 130 genes are tested in this way and the data is analyzed with AI software. The result is amazingly accurate.
Fraunhofer researcher Sheraz Gul is now looking for ways to slow down the aging process!
He wants to find active ingredients that specifically dissolve this DNA contamination. Objective: In this way, the subsequent development of diseases such as cancer can be prevented. Gul has already mentioned one possibility: fasting! Studies have shown that fasting increases life expectancy and reduces disease.
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