Hello, ISSIPers!
Reflections of Guest Editor-in-Chief
Prof. Dr. Salvatore Moccia, EIT
First, some news:
1) From Reuters, 21/02/2024: Social media platform Reddit has struck a deal with Google, opens new tab to make its content available for training the search engine giant’s artificial intelligence models, three people familiar with the matter said. The contract with Alphabet-owned Google is worth about $60 million per year, according to one of the sources.
2) From El País, 07/03/2024: Spain puts temporary ban on Worldcoin eyeballs scans, citing concerns over privacy. The Spanish Agency for Data Protection had received various complaints against the company that range from gathering the personal information of minors to not allowing for people to withdraw their consent to sharing personal data.
Why am I bringing this news to you? Because reading them, I came to the fascinating conclusion that, even after all these technologies we hear about,, , algorithms, HPC, AI, etc.., behind the data…I found a person…
In a world of technology, what really matters is the human side of it…And this reflection, brought me to my studies at the Lyceum and, in particular, to Plato, the great Greek Philosopher who was first to express that the soul was both the source of life and the mind. According to Plato, the soul is not a singular entity but rather a composition of three distinct forces, each with its unique role within an individual:
- Rational (Logistikon) is the part of the soul that seeks reason and strives for rational decision and yearns for knowledge and understanding.
- Spirited (Thymoeides) is the part that encompasses emotions like anger, happiness and other feelings. It is the part that desires honor and self-respect.
- Appetite (Epithumetikon) is the part dedicated to bodily pleasures.
Now, when I go back to those machines and their capacity for problem-solving, I wonder if they have a “soul”. I am sure those machines can recognize the task environment, process the data and provide a solution, but is this solution the perfect one?
I mean…I am sure you attended those leadership and management classes with this beautiful picture of the iceberg with the professor explaining the two parts of the iceberg: what we can see, and the hidden part of it (that, by the way, it is always the biggest one). In a platonic definition of the iceberg, the hidden part would probably be the “soul” that, as we said before, it is composed by three parts…so, an invisible part that is divided in three invisible elements, that are the source of life and mind…this is becoming quite confusing…
Better to go back to the machines. Do they really know that behind the data, there is a person? Do they really know that behind a person, there is a soul? Do they really know that no one is equal to the others?
The conclusion that might be drawn here – and I believe it is a positive one – is that machines and AI, and etc. will continue to improve and, as such, become a greater part of all our lives and facilitate our daily activities. BUT…would you replace human creativity with Generative AI? Would you substitute a conversation with your daughter with a chat with SIRI? Would you leave the machines to decide your own life?
As I was saying in my first newsletter, “my dear, here we must run as fast as we can, just to stay in place. And if you wish to go anywhere you must run twice as fast as that” (Alice in Wonderland). BUT PLEASE, do not run too fast. Stop and reflect. STOP AND REFLECT! (this time in capital letters). Give space to your soul and enjoy life. Love and Peace are especially needed in these days.
Next time more!
Cheers,
Prof. Dr. Salvatore Moccia
Editor-in-Chief