The popular narrative these days is that AI (aka artificial intelligence) is evil and will end the human race. To paraphrase a roman leader, the only thing to fear is the fear itself. As I have said before (on multiple occasions), AI will be a necessary co-pilot in our increasingly digitized, highly networked, and data-saturated world.
I think of AI as augmented intelligence, and I am hopeful it will help us make substantial gains in dealing with our medical needs, climate-related challenges, and everything else. I make my case over on The Spectator in my latest piece, Why we should stop worrying and learn to love AI.
As part of writing a review, I have been using Apple’s 2022 version of the 13-inch MacBook Air. I am not the first one to say it — many others have said before — it is a great device. It is a great testimonial of Apple’s hardware excellence and knowledge crammed into this thin sliver of engineering marvel. The new M2 chip, the longer battery life, improved webcam, keyboard, and speakers — everything is of exceptional quality. Apple does know how to build good premium hardware at scale.
Sadly, you can’t say the same when it comes to its software & services that rely on machine learning and augmented intelligence. The obvious deficiencies, whether on the Mac, the iPhone, or the iPad, are quite annoying. Take the Mac as an example. By now, it should be easier for the “notification” system to understand that showing notifications of events that have already happened is mere noise and a nuisance. And yet, you have to manually delete them. I mean, it should be obvious to any computer system and any application that date and time have passed.
Don’t get me started about Siri, which feels like a kindergartner compared to highly effective Alexa, and Google’s Home. If you have an accent that is not “classic American” or “classic English,” Siri will never quite understand you. Much as I loved the HomePod, it could never play “Nitin Sawhney” when I asked Siri to play his new album.
