Artificial intelligence is a tool, not a thinking machine

Photo: Kristina Stedul Fabac/PIXSELL

Artificial intelligence is a tool with which we can achieve many goals, but it is not human and cannot think on its own, was the common conclusion of the panel “Should we be afraid of artificial intelligence”. The discussion was attended by Marko Lukičić, director of Acquainta; Korado Korlević, director of the Višnjan Observatory; Sašo Dimitrijevski, partner in Pristop; and moderated by Hajdi Ćenan, CEO of AIRT, VP CRO AI.

“Alan Turing himself said it was absolutely pointless to even discuss whether a machine could think. That has not changed. The fact is that there is still no discussion about AI in this way, but it is not certain whether it will remain like this forever. The next significant step for AI is not to produce but to simulate intelligence—that’s what it’s all about. We need to create new perceptions and thoughts,” Lukičić emphasized.

Artificial intelligence is fundamentally changing everything that is happening in the global economy and is one of the forces behind digital transformation, the panelists said.

“Artificial intelligence is fundamentally changing everything about the global economy. Moreover, it is a major force behind digital transformation. However, this technology cannot be compared to what we call ‘consciousness’ and ‘self-awareness’. If there is a significant change, I believe that there will be an evolution in our own self-awareness, which will happen in combination with technology,” said Dimitirijevski.

Korlević was skeptical about the European regulations in this area: “We must prepare in advance for the fact that once we discover such intelligence, we must know how to appreciate everything it offers and be able to use that intelligence as a tool. I think this will be a somewhat harder in our country than, say, in China.”