Steve Chappell : Our Speaker on Tuesday March 25, 2025
By Timothy Sulisz
Our guest speaker for our March 25th meeting was Steve Chappell who gave a very engaging multi-media presentation on AI, Artificial Intelligence. Steve explained that AI is the simulation of human intelligence in machines programmed to think, learn and adapt like humans. Tasks include reasoning, learning, problem-solving, decision-making and language understanding.
Steve’s presentation was broken into 3 parts: development of existing AI from the 1960s to the present, concerns and dangers of AI, and Hypothetical AI that explores current thinking of what AI’s future might hold. Below is a diagram from his handout that shows the 8 modules that Steve used to describe the evolution of Artificial Intelligence.
These 8 modules are summarized in Steve’s handout that he sent after our meeting. Each module was enhanced with sounds, graphics, pictures illustrating examples of AI, and Steve’s discussion of the contents of the module. See below:
Existing AI
Classification: Functionality-based
1. Reactive Machine AI. Emergence: 1960s. Responds to input-only. Has no stored data from which to react as experience. Examples: IBM’s Deep Blue chess-playing computer, industrial robotics and email spam filters.
2. Limited Memory AI. Emergence: 2010s. Stores data for short durations. Capable of making informed decisions from past experience. Examples: Autonomous vehicles, online recommendations and chatbots.
Classification: Capability-based
3.Narrow (weak) AI. Emergence: 1960s. Performs a specialized task or solves a narrowly defined problem within a limited context. Examples: MRI machines, investment analysis and virtual assistants.
4. Generative AI. Emergence: 2010s. Creates text, images, videos or other forms of data.
Type 1. Prompted. Responds to text instruction input at keyboard.
Type 2. Autonomous. Operates using algorithms (pre-written instructions) with minimal or no human intervention.
Concerns
Privacy – As with search engines, the contents of your generative prompts connect to your IP address along with any identifying or sensitive content.
Impersonation – Each self-identifying data point provided through a prompt has the potential of aggregating with other information to build a detailed profile about you. In the possession of a stranger, they may attempt to present themself as you.
Copyright/Trademark – In addition to intentionally unauthorized infringement by others, inadvertent violation of others could be made by you due to scale and ease of availability.
Liability – Following or forwarding “directions” obtained from a chatbot does not release a party from liability resulting from damaging results. Discretion should be exercised when seeking legal, financial, medical or any other serious form of information.
Deep Fakes – Current Generative AI are still mostly distinguishable from reality but steadily improving. While it has become impractical for a socially and professionally-engaged person to have no images of themselves online, the risk of misleading fakes increases exponentially with volume.
Hypothetical AI
5. Theory of Mind AI. Able to understand and respond to human emotions, beliefs, and intentions.
6. Artificial General Intellegence (Strong). The ability to understand, learn and apply knowledge across various tasks.
7. Self-Aware AI. Conscious of its own existence, with its own desires, goals and emotions.
8. Super AI. Capable of surpassing human intelligence in every field.
Steve ended his presentation with a bang – the Big Bang as analogy for the concept of The Singularity, to describe a theoretical point in the future when artificial intelligence surpasses human intelligence and technological growth becomes unpredictable and uncontrollable.
To see the rest of Steve’s handout, click on the link below:
Steve’s presentation was very well received by our Probus members with many people asking questions during the Q&A period, or after his presentation as part of their conversation with him.
Probus Club of Kingsway-Islington 