Ayşegül İldeniz’s book Ayşegül 5.0: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Artificial Intelligence and the Future provides an in-depth look at the impacts of artificial intelligence in the rapidly changing world of technology. The book serves as a guide for those who want to explore the future possibilities of AI while also shedding light on the current challenges in the field.
1. Artificial Intelligence and Environmental Impacts
In one section of the book, the environmental effects of AI’s energy and water consumption are highlighted. İldeniz points out that despite the promises of AI and advanced technologies, these systems are leading to significant increases in energy and water consumption.
For example, when asking questions to language models like ChatGPT, every 20-30 questions consume half a liter of water, and every image generation uses as much energy as charging a cell phone. Additionally, the book emphasizes the energy and water consumption of data centers; for instance, a 1 MW data center requires the equivalent of 300,000 people’s annual water consumption for cooling.
2. Artificial Intelligence and Biases
İldeniz explains that the efforts to balance the biases of AI are still in the early stages. She shares an experience where, when instructing an AI to “create an image of a woman with a confident posture looking towards distant mountains,” the AI produced images of women with inappropriate, sexualized, and submissive poses for an extended period. This highlights that AI reflects societal biases, and addressing these issues will take time.
3. Communication with Robots and Their Effects on Humans
The book also delves into important discussions about robots and human-robot relationships. People generally tend to have a negative and hesitant attitude when interacting with robots. İldeniz stresses the importance of designing robots that do not harm humans and points out that overcoming various challenges to establish a healthy relationship between humans and robots will require time. She notes that robots getting too close to people’s physical space or being unnecessarily humanized can evoke fear.
4. A Three-Step Recipe for Artificial Intelligence
The book offers three key steps for starting AI applications in the Turkish business world:
- Build a Team: Create a team of creative individuals, free from hierarchical constraints, and give them the freedom to work independently.
- Focus and Increase Efficiency: Focus AI on enhancing productivity to speed up and streamline business processes.
- Change the Game: Not only will companies use AI applications, but so will their competitors, which means significant changes to business models are necessary. These changes require courage and determination but can lead to significant breakthroughs.
5. Preparing for the Future
The book predicts that AI will rapidly spread worldwide, and as a result, energy, water, and environmental resources may become even more scarce. It encourages humanity to carefully evaluate both the benefits and potential harms of AI.
İldeniz addresses these topics throughout the book, providing solutions to the challenges faced in the tech world and offering important warnings for the future. She emphasizes the need for a more conscious approach to AI in the fast-evolving technological landscape.
