From fascination to anxiety. Artificial intelligence through the eyes of Poles

Bartosz Michalski, “Wprost”: As the Wrocław University of Technology, you prepared the report “Between curiosity and uncertainty. Generations of Poles towards artificial intelligence – knowledge, experience, moods”. Where did the idea for such a study come from?

Dr hab. Eng. Tomasz Kajdanowicz, head of the Department of Artificial Intelligence at the Faculty of Information Technology and Telecommunications of the Wrocław University of Technology: Earlier, there was no such cross -sectional research in Poland about the use and knowledge of artificial intelligence. The need to make such a report was dictated by our mission as the Wrocław University of Technology, which is the education and conduct of scientific research. The answers obtained from it allow us to better adapt in the offer for students, a new paradigm of education. On the other hand, we can understand with whom and how to communicate. Not only throughout the candidates, but also people who leave our university – what they know and what not in the field of artificial intelligence.

It is worth explaining here then what artificial intelligence is. Most of us met this concept, but we don’t even know that we often use it every day.

Tomasz Kajdanowicz: This is a very broad issue and it is often abused in terms of commercial use of this name. Everything is now “made”. As if I were to say from myself, it is a collection of mainly IT methods, but also using mathematical ones that allows us to simulate human intelligence. All this is to take place in the machine. Of course, it later has a more detailed development.

This human intelligence is more or less the same as thinking, drawing conclusions, planning skills, decision making. What we observe the development of artificial intelligence at the moment are these possibilities of adopting or simulating how a man does it.

Only he does it faster.

Tomasz Kajdanowicz: There is a discussion, which this artificial intelligence from a technical perspective is. Indeed, it allows you to perform tasks on a much larger scale than man. Mainly decision making, planning or recognizing patterns that are inaccessible to humans. This is mainly due to the fact that we as people have limited perception. We see as much as we see through our eyes. For example, we will see no more than 25 frames per second, we will read no more than one book in two hours.

And this is also the fear that resounds with your report. Will AI take away our work?

Tomasz Kajdanowicz: We do not know the future, but we observe that the economy will follow the track of implementing the greatest efficiency. Where to replace a human cost, at a lower cost, for example, using technology, it does. It was the same during the first industrial revolution, where a steam machine was invented.

Katarzyna Sławińska -Oleszek, head of the Career Office of the Wrocław University of Technology: We see quite significant changes in the labor market in the use of AI. We delegate some tasks to tools. That is why it is also worth wondering in the context of my own work, your own position, which of my activities can be replaced or supported by these tools, so as to perform this work more effectively.

Increasing efficiency may mean that less employees will need to complete the task.

Katarzyna Sławińska -Oleszek: Indeed, one man will be able to perform more actions, more actions. We see, even in stores, where thanks to automatic cash registers you need fewer people to handle this task. However, it is worth considering where, in what areas, you can look for a different type of activity for yourself, which will be needed using human intelligence, our features and values.

We already see the AI ​​trend on the labor market. In many advertisements, in many industries, even the basic knowledge of these tools becomes a standard.

Which competitions are most at risk?

Katarzyna Sławińska -Oleszek: The corresponders in our report had some intuition in this respect. They indicated, among others, graphic designers, programmers, i.e. where some automation is possible. So there may be less of these professions with some time, but it will balance.

Nature, however, hates a vacuum. New competitions are already being created, about which we would not think a few years ago, such as a promising engineer. Do such demands affect your Career Office?

Katarzyna Sławińska -Oleszek: This is not such a very visible trend yet. We are at the beginning of this process. In a moment there will be a completely new competition, which we have not heard about before and which we can not even name today.

There are boundaries that AI cannot cross and thus areas in which he will not replace man?

Tomasz Kajdanowicz: Turing’s test has been out of date a long time ago. The limit of distinguishing between human and machinery is blurred. We are in a world where the use of wisdom is the last difference between what man is and what these algorithms are.

What can artificial intelligence really do today and what will be able to be in 5 years? We can already see that this development over the last three or four years, when the GPT chat has entered the thatched roofs, he accelerated very much.

Tomasz Kajdanowicz: Today he can do more than we know. At the moment it is definitely ubiquity. We are all owners of mobile phones, we use the Internet, which has dozens of types of artificial intelligence algorithms. They can be found, even on social media. What appears to us in Feed is not accidental, only on the basis of the analysis of our activity, the features are shown to us by content that is to catch our attention to longer. Similarly with maps and travel planning.

Only if AI will not lazy us too much? Will these social competences not disappear?

Tomasz Kajdanowicz: There is such a great desire, this is how human nature works. I prefer to see it in such a way that every crisis is a great opportunity to make another progress, another reevaluation, which will show that we are moving forward. We can be stuck in understanding the world as he is. In which a man was created to think about. This means that if someone starts to do it better, we will be losers.

It is therefore a chance to say: well, we were able to automate these things, we discovered and understood the world so much that we can not do it by hand, let’s try to think about what a man is still for.

Katarzyna Sławińska -Oleszek: We will also think about it at work. We can think about which of my actions are those that my human personality, psyche, values, goals are most needed. Indeed, it will be the value that the machines will not have yet.

Many doubts, which also sounded in your report, raises the issue of ethics when using AI. Interesting information has recently appeared that the company Mattel, which produces, among others Barbie dolls, she established cooperation with Opeli. Should children be in contact with artificial intelligence so early?

Katarzyna Sławińska -Oleszek: This is the moment that evokes emotions, as a mother I see those threats that may arise. I can imagine that a child who would get such a toy, or will be as willing to talk to other children as a doll. She will not be offended, she will not take other toys.

Tomasz Kajdanowicz: The appearance of this type of technology will be incompatible with a young man. We come to a situation where children would have to complement these huge databases. If it was to be safe, it would have to be tailored to the specific space that we want them to have.

The whole conversation below: