Violence from Artificial Intelligence!

Lately I have been consumed in the learning of the concepts and algorithms for Machine Learning – a branch of Artificial Intelligence. While dueling the ideas and algorithms and the magical mathematical notations that allow us to understand the existing patterns and enabling the predictions, a very interesting thought came to observation.

Most of the prediction algorithms required us to understand the test scenarios and then create clusters based on measurable parameters. This information and the clustering algorithm trains the system or in other words develops a stereotype in the minds of the observer. Based on the stereotypes, the observers start observing and then deciphering every observation henceforth.

While the strategy works amazingly well when it comes to innate objects, I see a big trouble in extending the same to the thoughts getting generated in an individual. No thoughts in an individual are discreet and are neither mutually exclusive so that we can apply them to a clustering algorithm. The thought process in an individual behaves both as a continuous as well as discontinuous function based on the variety of factors including the time and the thought itself. It is so very difficult to map it on a graph and mimic a human being.

Extrapolating the individual brain to a group or a whole region, we are looking at a much larger diverse dataset. Applying a clustering algorithm which is the most optimum fitting for the dataset would rather be either overfitting for some and under fitting for others. There shall never be a fully fitting algorithm that works all the time.

Think of the interpersonal interactions we have on a day basis. Every time, we meet a new person, we try to judge them – classify them based on the stereotypes we have developed in our mind. Based on the classification model that our brain reports, our interaction is molded accordingly. Based on this classification, we place the individual in a referential frame with ourselves and then we interpret every conversation and respond accordingly. When talking to a group of people, the same strategy applies.

When dealing with a community, region or a large amount of people a well-oiled administration tries to divide the groups into smaller groups so that it can find commonalities and leave out the rest. What happens to those who would fall partly in multiple groups?

Now the question arises again from an individual’s perspective – what happens when you feel that you are not being heard or you are being misinterpreted? The may even believe that their identity is being destroyed since they are misinterpreted. The notion of being misinterpreted causes emotional imbalance in an individual. The individual (which could be me or even you) starts feeling that they are being shunned. By denying someone their thoughts or ideas or even identity, this is a form of violence – emotional violence. When this individual is again extrapolated to a community or group, the violence feeling is also expanded manifolds. Imagine, when the emotional violence reaches a threshold and starts erupting? It may take forms of physical violence and many other ugly forms?

Administration or grouping or clustering is thus the cause of violence in us. When we can understand this concept, and blame it all on the administration techniques employed by the politicians, leaders and governments, why shouldn’t we question ourselves? We must first demolish the habit of building up stereotypes in our head and be open in our communication.

It is easy to handle the individual’s sense of violence though empathy. However, if it grows as a general thinking, it may be an unstoppable phenomenon.

Artificial Intelligence is great – but it is artificial – no match to your own intelligence.