Forum

In the interview with Ben Shneiderman, one of the prognostications was a warning that: "Machine learning, neural networks have great opportunities, but the mindless acceptance of their potency is extremely dangerous." I think this warning has very much come true and will continue to be very importan

Early in the interview, Schneiderman talks about "Google Flu Trends" - the idea that Google can predict the way illnesses break out in different parts of the world based on the queried put into google. He goes on to say this often helped predict flu outbreaks before data from hospitals suggested the

In the 2018 conversation, Ben Shneiderman strongly emphasized the importance of explainability in AI systems, particularly in high-risk domains like healthcare, transportation, and finance. He argued that if an AI system becomes so complex that "you don’t understand what it’s doing, throw it out or

I watched the Ben Shneiderman interview, recorded in 2018. You can access the video here: Shneiderman interview. More than a clairvoyant of the future of AI, Ben also exemplified the relationship between humans and machines, called HCI (Human-Computer Interaction). Over time, Ben raised the preoccup

I was personally really motivated by Dr. Tarter's journey of transitioning from engineering into SETI from her own reflection of feeling like engineers not making the best professors. It's cool to learn about how things like terrestrial microwave window and looking for specific frequency compression

In his 2018 PredictionX interview at Harvard, computer scientist Ben Shneiderman made a bold claim that I find particularly thought-provoking in our current AI landscape. He predicted that future generations would look back and find our belief in intelligent, human-like machines as "quaint" - assert

I chose to watch the Philosophy and Prediction Interview with Ned Hall, in which he and Alyssa Goodman discuss questions involving both philosophy and science, such as how we can truly make a prediction or find "truth" in a chaotic universe. I chose this interview to contextualize what we have been

The interviews—but primarily the reading—got me thinking about how the discovery of extraterrestrial life could reshape our sense of identity and our place in the universe. Johnson’s point about how limited and Earth-centered our definitions of life are made me wonder how we would respond emotionall

What new question does the reading and interviews raise for you about the ways in which the discovery of extraterrestrial life could affect human economies, religions, and science? What makes this question difficult to answer? Response: After the reading and interviews, I’m honestly wondering: woul

​The reading and interviews prompt a compelling question: How would the discovery of extraterrestrial life—particularly intelligent life—reshape global economic systems, religious doctrines, and scientific paradigms? Kelsey Johnson's Chapter 4 explores how such a discovery could challenge our defini

During this interview, I was fascinated by the difference in machine learning trends and statistical trends, especially the comparison with AWS. However, the discussion around machines as tools rather than partners was interesting. They discussed how machines would be able to mimic many actions that

Back in 2018, Ben Shneiderman sat down with Alyssa and made a sharp prediction: that AI would quickly become the go-to “catch-all” for fixing the internet’s biggest problems—especially things like algorithmic bias and the way content is given to users. He pointed to Mark Zuckerberg’s congressional t

I was drawn to the conversation with Professor Katherine Blundell of Oxford. As someone deeply interested in how we build scientific understanding, I found Blundell’s reflections on the Padua Rainbow especially compelling—particularly her insight that the framework omits a crucial, invisible force b

https://www.labxchange.org/library/items/lb:HarvardX:68789c56:lx_simulation:1?fullscreen=true 1. Identify and explain (in a paragraph) the most surprising or memorable bit of information you learned. distant airport • Although this may not be the most memorable or surprising bit of information abo

In his 2018 interview, Shneiderman predicted that AI would mimic and support human functions rather than replace them outright, comparing AI to tools like cars or music players that enhance, not substitute, human abilities. However, with the rise of generative AI like ChatGPT, this view seems outdat

In an interview with Ben Shneider, he argues that AI should be treated as tools rather than as collaborators in work. He warns against using language that makes AI seem human-like such as “AI learned,” or “the computer decided.” This view may have seemed very cautious at times, but it has become inc

In his interview, Shneriderman discussed the importance of designing AI systems that improve or augment human abilities instead of replacing them. He advocated for an approach called "human-centered AI", which focused on enhancing human performance, maintaining safety, and keeping a strong user cont

The search for extraterrestrial life is an exciting one full of uncertainty. I was actually first surprised by the level of effort in this field, for there is such a high probability you may spend years and find nothing. Worse so, not because there are no other advanced communicative civilizations i

Avi Loeb argues that we should keep an open mind and not dismiss the possibility of alien technology just because it feels unlikely. He criticizes "groupthink" in the scientific community and urges more willingness to consider bold ideas. Similarly, Jill Tarter emphasizes that SETI is not about chas

The interviews with Drs. Jill Tarter and Avi Loeb pushed me to think about the ramifications that any verified discovery of extraterrestrial (intelligent) life would have on religious, cultural, and secular beliefs on the centrality of humans and the ‘natural’ predominance of their needs over the ne

We’ve always built tools to make life easier as Sheridan notes. For most of history, that meant offloading physical work or boring, repetitive tasks like the bulldozer example. These tools gave us extra muscle or saved time on tedious chores, but we still had to do the thinking part. AI is differe

https://www.labxchange.org//library/pathway/lx-pathway:825945a0-367c-45dc-82b7-3d160c6e6f7a/items/lb:HarvardX:fe7fbba2:lx_simulation:1?source=%2Flibrary%2Fclusters%2Flx-cluster%3AModernPrediction&t=5ccc6b18-826a-4de0-911d-66a4f0f2140c I chose this video because the combination of the topics of healt

Ben Shneiderman's caution about the "pixie dust" is, for me, one of the most insightful moments of the interview. Back then, he was already warning about the tendency that humans would treat machine learning as a magical solution, capable of driving cars, diagnosing disease, or making predictions wi

Jill Tarter explains, throughout her interview, her role in searching for frequencies coming from space to detect signs of technology from intelligent life elsewhere. My burning question to her would be about intelligent life elsewhere being absurdly different from human intelligent life. Are we cer

Ben Shneiderman uses the Google Flu example to describe his fear that humans will overestimate AI's capabilities and then overlook its flaws, especially when it gives us incorrect data that we end up believing. This risk is extremely prevalent today. Because AI is improving so rapidly, we often get

One prediction Ben Shneiderman made in 2018 that really stuck with me was his argument that computers—and especially AI—should be seen strictly as tools, not partners or collaborators. He warned that calling machines our “partners” could mess with how we think about them and lead us to trust them to

Reading the chapter from Kelsey Johnson’s book and watching the PredictionX videos was really informative on the research that goes into extraterrestrial life. It also changed my views on what I thought extraterrestrial life was and what might come from it if we make groundbreaking discoveries in th

I'm especially curious about the economics of interspecies contact: might encountering extraterrestrial life lead to the development of completely new commodities, markets, and economic theories that go beyond the current capitalism-socialism divide? According to my research, there are already a lot

In Chapter 4 of Into the Unknown, Johnson explores the profound implications that the discovery of extraterrestrial life could have on human social, political, economic, and cultural systems. Economically, the reality of aliens could catalyze new industries focused on space exploration, communicatio

Asking about how discovery of extraterrestrial life is more than a question with a simple answer. Over the years, people have been trying to find this answer based on mathematical records, human behavior, and UFO theories around the world. Personally, my biggest question is what type of advancements