Comments by: Scott Kahn

Many of the questions being asked about AI cannot be answered now, or perhaps for a very long time, if ever. Ray Kurzweil predicts that AI machines will be able to pass the Turing test* by 2029. Others disagree, predicting 50 years, or 100.

Machines have augmented human capabilities for millennia. What may be unique in today’s AI is that machine intelligence is seen as encroaching upon domains that humans have believed were unique to them. For example, “commonsense.” While this may be unsettling, we have lived with enormous gaps in public knowledge of even more complex, if ominous technologies for centuries.

The evening’s talk will spend a few minutes on basics: what is today’s AI and how is it different from historical AI? We will then endeavor to explain those differences by considering two applications much in the news: AI in healthcare, and “AI pilots” in aviation.

* The Turing test, first proposed by Alan Turing in 1950. tests a machine’s ability to exhibit intelligence equivalent to, or indistinguishable from, human intelligence.

Dr. Jim Short is Lead Scientist and co-founder of the Center for Large Scale Data Systems (CLDS) at the UCSD San Diego Supercomputer Center. His interests include the economics of large-scale data systems, the valuation of data and information markets, and the economic incentives and management of data privacy and data sharing. He has taught business strategy, management information systems, and communications theory at the London Business School, Theseus Institute, and the MIT Sloan School of Management. He was also a Belfer Fellow at Harvard’s JFK School of Government. He holds Bachelor’s, Master’s and PhD degrees from MIT.

The Speaker Forum is designed to bring to Beth Israel a person with expertise on a topic of interest for all adult members. These Forums are proudly sponsored by the Men’s Club for our entire congregation. Participation is not limited to Beth Israel members. This event is held virtually on Zoom. After registering, you will receive an email containing information on how to join the event.