How Bill Nye, The Science Guy Taught Google Bard How Artificial Intelligence Can Help Save the World

• “Scientist” Bill Nye says he’s less worried about artificial intelligence ending the world than giant solar flares.
• The “outrage” over students’ use of generative AI at school doesn’t bother the celebrity trainer either. “It’s exactly what it’s meant to be,” Nye said at CNBC’s Tech Executive Council meeting on artificial intelligence on Thursday.
• And in response to a series of questions requested by Google Bard, Nye told AI how it could help solve some of the world’s biggest problems.

You may not know this, but Bill Nye, “The Science Guy,” has professional experience overseeing new and potentially dangerous innovations. Before becoming a renowned science educator, Nye worked as an engineer at Boeing during a period of rapid change in aviation control systems and the need to ensure that the outputs of new systems were understood. And going back to the era of steam engine innovation, Nye says that “control theory” has always been key to introducing new technology.

It will not be different from artificial intelligence. Although not an AI expert, Nye said that the main problem everyone should be concerned about when designing AI is that we can understand what goes into computer systems, but we can’t be sure what’s going to come out. Social media was an example of how this problem occurred in the technology sector.

Nye said Thursday at CNBC’s Technology Executive Council Summit on Artificial Intelligence in New York City that the rapid growth of artificial intelligence means that “everyone in middle school through their Ph.D. in computer science needs to learn about artificial intelligence.” learn artificially “

But he’s not worried about the technology’s impact on students, citing the “outrage” surrounding calculators. He said: the teachers got used to them; Everyone should take a test with a calculator. “It’s exactly what it’s supposed to be…the beginning or the basics of computer programming.”

Most important in the understanding and acceptance of artificial intelligence by people who are not computer literate is good design in education. “Everyone is already counting on their phone to tell them which side of the street they are on,” Nye said. “Good engineering invites the right use. People say ‘user-friendly,’ but I say ‘user-recognizable.’

However, computer science is not the skill that Nye thinks is the most important skill for students. Underpinning his belief that “the world is knowable,” Nye said that the most fundamental skill children must learn, and the foundation of all knowledge, is critical thinking. It will play a big role in artificial intelligence, he says, both because of its complexity and because of its susceptibility to misuse, such as deep fakes. “We want people to be able to ask questions,” Nye said. We don’t want a smaller and smaller fraction of people to understand the increasingly complex world.”

During a conversation with CNBC’s Tyler Mathiesen at the TEC Summit on Artificial Intelligence, CNBC hit Nye with a series of questions that came from a message to Google’s AI maker: What to ask Bill Nye about AI?

Bard asked about 20 questions that covered many areas:

How should we ensure that AI is used for good and not harm?

“We need regulation,” Nye said.

What should we teach our children about artificial intelligence?

“How to write computer code.”

What do you think about the chances of artificial intelligence surpassing human intelligence?

“It’s done now.”

What are the most important ethical considerations for artificial intelligence development?

“We need a class of legislators who can understand it well enough to create regulations to deal with it, to monitor it,” he said.

What role can artificial intelligence play in addressing some of the world’s most pressing problems, such as climate change and poverty?

Nye, who has spent a lot of time thinking about the end of the world, still thinks giant solar flares are a bigger threat than artificial intelligence, reminding the audience, “You can turn off,” saying it’s a “great question.”

He gave his most extensive answers on this subject to artificial intelligence.

Watch the video above to see all of Bill Nye’s answers to AI on how it can help save the world.