I’ll admit I had a chuckle this week when one of the network late-night “comedians” made the news by intimating that he is ready for the day when machines are in charge of humanity and tell humans what to do.  He was talking about artificial intelligence (AI) and while he may dream of the day when machines provide the “collective conscience” for humanity, I am not there.  I, for one, trust humanity and the human condition.

Are there worthy applications for AI in areas like medicine or logistics or a myriad of other benefits?  Likely.  But when it comes to making decisions based on morality, I want a human in charge.  

Google made the headlines recently when it was discovered that there were major biases “programmed into” some of their AI tools.  It was so bad that the tech giant had to apologize and promise to rectify the situation.

Humans can make mistakes, but that is part of our lives that leads to people having compassion and the ability to participate in civil discourse.  When a computer logarithm replaces emotions and feelings with a clear cut, emotionless formula to make every decision, it doesn’t sound to me like a value-added proposition.

Humans learn by making mistakes, we learn how to communicate, solve problems and find creative solutions to a variety of situations.  Maybe there is a machine that can help us (those driving directions on smart phones have certainly been a good thing!) to achieve our goals, but I want to be in charge of the goals.

AI even has applications in the world of writing.  I could easily ask AI to create a newspaper column about AI, but I don’t think most humans want to know what the computer thinks about itself.  

In the next few months and years, there’s going to be a greater reliance on AI in many aspects of our lives.  Some even predict that robots, machines and AI will take the place of humans in many respects.  If it can truly be helpful, I’ll have an open mind.  

But I’ll want to see how that self-driving autonomous vehicle does on black ice before I am ready to turn the keys over to the computer.

When it comes to AI replacing humanity, I’ll be ready to pull the plug.