LifestyleCalgary.TechMargaret Atwood Says AI Is Like a Paring Knife
Author Margaret Atwood compared AI to a paring knife at a Calgary conference, saying it has a good side, a bad side, and a stupid side you never saw coming.
Artificial intelligence is described as a technological revolution that is transforming our world. Canadian literary icon Margaret Atwood has a somewhat simpler way of looking at it. She compares AI to a knife. A paring knife actually. “It’s got a good side. It’s got a bad side. And it’s got a stupid side you didn’t […]
Margaret Atwood, 86, told an audience at the Energy Disruptors conference in Calgary that AI is a human tool with good, bad and unpredictable consequences, like a paring knife.
She illustrated AI's limits with a personal story: she asked the AI assistant Claude to identify a murderer in a TV episode and it confidently named the red herring instead.
Atwood, author of The Handmaid's Tale, argued that because humans made AI, the responsibility for how it is used and what goes wrong rests entirely with us.
Five minutes for you
More from Cuppa
Scientists have detected radio signals from a planet beyond our Solar SystemScientists have for the first time confirmed a radio signal coming from a single planet outside our Solar System, a gas giant about 63 light-years away called Beta Pictoris b.
Nepal floods: One of 55 missing Malaysians confirmed alive, reunited with familyOne of 55 missing Malaysians after Nepal's devastating August floods has been found alive and reunited with his family after 37 days.
Greene compo revealed as Cats snare Giants’ greatest player; door ajar for De Goey to leave PiesGWS captain Toby Greene is officially heading to Geelong, Jordan De Goey has the green light to leave Collingwood, and Jordon Butts is set to join the Western Bulldogs.
Father of Gypsy-Rose Blanchard’s Daughter Was 34Ken Urker, the father of Gypsy-Rose Blanchard's daughter and a cast member on her Lifetime reality show, has died aged 34 in Louisiana.
Two women allegedly assaulted by gang of home invaders in SydneyThree young men have been arrested after two women were separately targeted in violent home invasions in Sydney's southwest, with police alleging the victims were researched beforehand.
Christa Pike in critical condition after failed execution - lawyersA Tennessee woman survived her own execution after staff couldn't find a vein and gave her a double dose of lethal drugs, leaving her hospitalised in critical condition.
TikToker wins copyright fight against activewear giant Alo YogaA Sydney TikToker won her copyright appeal after activewear brand Alo Yoga tried to silence her honest review of a $150 tracksuit that pilled badly after just three washes.
From the Kimberley to California: WA student selected for NASA programA WA student from the Kimberley has become the first from a WA university selected for a 10-week NASA placement in California through an Indigenous space program.
What readers are saying