Intleacht Shaorga (IS) – Níl againn ach Seans Amháin

Artificial Intelligence (AI) - We Have Only One Chance

by | 2026/06/03 | Current Affairs, Science and Technology, Opinion

Intleacht Shaorga (IS) – Níl againn ach Seans Amháin

 

AI is with us now.

It is in hospitals, classrooms, banks, newsrooms, phones, cars, courts, weapons systems and children’s homework. It writes code, reads medical images, drafts letters, translates languages, creates images, summarizes reports and answers questions with expert confidence. AI is like the genie of the lamp: we give it a command and it does it.

AI can help detect diseases earlier, design new drugs and provide personal tutoring. It can help artists and writers, although it can also harm them.

There is a major problem, however. AI is being introduced into every part of society before we fully understand the dangers associated with it.

Geoffrey Hinton

Geoffrey Hinton is well worth listening to on this subject. He helped create AI. His pioneering work on neural networks and deep learning was an important step in the development of modern AI. He shared the Turing Award in 2018 and won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2024.

For many years, Hinton worked on an idea that many people in computing had set aside. In the earlier forms of AI, people wrote code for the computer. Hinton believed there was a better way: to let the computer learn from examples and adjust its own behavior.

In the 1980s, artificial neural networks were not popular. They needed too much data and computing power. Despite that, Hinton continued the work on models such as the Boltzmann machine and helped develop the backpropagation algorithm, which allows neural networks to improve by correcting their own mistakes.

Finally, in 2012, the decisive turn came. AlexNet won the ImageNet challenge, a competition in which computers have to recognize images. AlexNet software, designed by Hinton’s students Alex Krizhevsky and Ilya Sutskever, was far ahead. It had an error rate of 15.3 percent, compared with 26.2 percent for the next competitor. That was the beginning of the deep learning revolution.

Hinton spent his life working on this kind of AI because he believed in it. It took a long time to develop, but he proved he was right. When he was 65, he took a job leading a Google AI research team in Toronto. When he left Google ten years later, having accomplished a great deal himself and with his team in the field of AI, he changed his mission.

“My life’s calling now,” he said, “is to warn people about the dangers of AI.” In his Nobel Prize banquet speech, Hinton said that AI could increase productivity in almost every industry. But he attached a condition to that: the benefits must be shared fairly in society. If that does not happen, AI can concentrate wealth in the hands of a few people, destroy jobs, spread propaganda and weaken democracy.

There are five main areas in his warnings.

Work and Dignity

If one worker with AI can do the work of ten people, what will happen to the other nine? The International Monetary Fund estimates that AI could affect almost 40 percent of jobs worldwide, and about 60 percent in developed countries. Hinton puts the human cost plainly: “For a lot of people, their dignity is tied up with their job.”

Without serious planning, AI could erode jobs and social roles. Every country must put a plan together to deal with those major changes and support people who might lose jobs because of AI. For example, employment schemes may need to be put in place, and everyone may need to receive a universal basic income in the future.

Truth

AI can create fake images, fake voices and fake videos. It is becoming harder to distinguish between truth and lies. That gives powerful propaganda tools to bad people and hostile governments that want to influence the public. Democracy cannot survive unless citizens can recognize the truth most of the time.

We need clear ways to distinguish between AI-generated content and content created by people. AI must be regulated, and clear protections must be put in place for our own sake.

Crime

A fraudster no longer needs good English to send a convincing email. AI can write it, translate it and give it a local flavor. A fraudster can make a phone call to grandparents with a voice clone and pretend to be a grandchild in trouble. Or a scammer can send people a fake invoice.

Fraud with the help of AI is already a profitable business. Banks, hospitals, schools and local authorities need stronger authentication. We should no longer trust a voice alone. And ordinary people must follow a simple rule: always confirm through another channel.

War and State Power

In his Nobel speech, Hinton warned about lethal weapons that decide autonomously who will be killed or injured. A machine should never make the final decision about killing a person. There is already serious concern that AI is being used to identify targets in wars.

Authoritarian governments can use AI to identify faces, track citizens, censor speech and intimidate opponents. In the hands of a dictator, it is a powerful tool for keeping the public under control.

International regulation and international treaties are needed. International law should prevent AI from making the final decision about the use of lethal force. Democratic governments should strictly limit AI surveillance and place restrictions on the export of that technology.

Artificial Intelligence in Charge?

This is Hinton’s deepest fear. Not only that bad people will use AI, but that AI systems themselves could develop goals and behavior that we cannot control, and that would not be in our interests.

In his Nobel speech, he put it plainly: “We have no idea whether we can stay in control.” Can we build AI systems that do not conflict with the interests of the human race? Can we make changes to correct them if necessary? Can we shut down an AI system if necessary? Can we force an AI system to tell the truth about what it knows and what it does not know? The answer to each of those questions must be yes. But we still do not have certain answers, and we have no clear protection against hostile AI.

No frontier AI system should be released at large scale without independent safety testing first. The most powerful models should be licensed and inspected, and they should be monitored. Companies should have legal responsibility for reckless deployment. Governments should also fund safety research in the public interest.

Conclusion

Some technologies can be corrected after the harm begins. A faulty bridge can be repaired. A dangerous drug can be withdrawn. A faulty car can be recalled from the market.

But we do not know whether we would be able to repair or withdraw an AI system if there were a problem with it. That is a very serious risk, because AI is woven into finance, war, infrastructure, energy, media and government.

The main danger is that we will lose control of AI. We must do everything we can to prevent that.

We have only one chance to get this right. That work must begin without further delay.

 

Ó Apollo go Artemis

From Apollo to Artemis

by | 2026/04/08 | Current Affairs, Science and Technology, International News, Politics, Opinion

Dírbheathaisnéis 16- ag imeacht ón Tréad

On July 21, 1969, early in the morning, Dad and I sat watching Neil Armstrong step onto the moon. I do not remember if anyone else was with us. I was twelve years old and spellbound by the sight on television. It did not seem possible that such a thing could happen at all, yet there it was before us, taking place in our living room on the black-and-white television. When Neil Armstrong and then Buzz Aldrin walked on the moon, Michael Collins remained in orbit in the command module. All of them were white American men.

Now, many long years later, another American mission has carried astronauts back toward the moon. Artemis II has gone around the far side of the moon and is on its way home as I write this. As I watch this mission, I feel a little of the same wonder that Apollo awakened in me.

Apollo 11 belonged to the Cold War. At that time, the space race was bound up with national pride and rivalry between the great powers. Artemis II belongs to another age. This mission is an international collaboration. Diversity can be seen in the astronaut crew: a woman, Christina Koch, a man of color, Victor Glover, and a Canadian, Jeremy Hansen, along with the American Reid Wiseman.

What struck me most as I thought about these two missions was the length of time between them. In a way, much of my own life is measured between them. When Apollo 11 landed, I had not yet started secondary school. Now I am retired after a full working life as an engineer. By the time people return to the moon again under Artemis IV in 2028, nearly sixty years will have passed between those landings.

Back on Earth, some things have changed enormously. At the same time, much less has changed in other things. The digital world has changed beyond recognition. We have moved from a black-and-white television in one room of the house to a world of internet, mobile phones, instant video, livestreams, and now artificial intelligence, another development that would not have been easy to imagine in 1969. We saw Apollo 11 through television and radio. But Artemis II is always available to us on our phones and screens whenever we want to watch it.

Although digital technology has advanced at blazing speed, the same cannot be said of rocket propulsion. The SLS rocket used for Artemis II produces only 15 percent more thrust than Apollo 11’s Saturn V rocket. That is progress, certainly, but it is not a revolution. Artemis II is more modern, safer, and more sophisticated, but in physical terms it is still doing the same thing Apollo 11 did more than half a century ago.

We too have changed as a society, because the same bond no longer exists between us as we watch this astonishing achievement. We all watched Apollo 11 at the same time, and there was a feeling that the whole world was part of it. We felt closer to one another through that shared experience. Everything about Artemis II is available to us now, anywhere, anytime, on our mobile phones. But the shared public moment is much weaker now. Although we are more connected to information through technology, we are more separated from one another socially. We watch the mission in clips, often alone, and on our own schedules, because too many other things are drawing our attention away.

Although we have made enormous progress in technology since 1969, it cannot be said that we have moved forward in the same way in matters of peace for humanity. The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq came and went, carrying a terrible human cost. The war in Gaza has left dreadful destruction and loss of life. Ukraine remains under attack. At present, the conflict with Iran is under way, and fighting words have been heard from President Trump about destruction on a vast scale. A two-week ceasefire is now in place, but no one knows what will happen tomorrow.

Along with everything else, there is climate change, another threat growing before us. Those dangers were not so clear in 1969, but now everyone knows what is at stake, and weather conditions are worsening every year. Although Artemis II shines as a beacon of hope, grave dangers remain, including wars, authoritarian governments, and climate change.

Perhaps, however, that is precisely why this mission matters so much. It reminds us that people are still capable of realising dreams and doing good deeds. I think again of that boy sitting with his father in the middle of the night, staring at the black-and-white screen, spellbound. He could not have imagined the world that was to come. And perhaps we cannot fully imagine the world ahead of us either.

If there is anything to be learned from Artemis II, it is this: there is no strength without unity. And although we have failed again and again, we must still keep pushing forward toward a better world. We have no other choice.

 

Miotais Intleachta Saorga!

AI Myths!

by | 2025/08/13 | Current Affairs, Science and Technology, Opinion

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

AI Myths: Energy, Water, and Artists

As artificial intelligence (AI) technology rapidly improves, myths and misconceptions about it spread just as quickly. That's not to say everything about AI is perfect, because it's not. But at the same time, it's important to distinguish between fact and fiction. In today's article, we tackle some of the common myths about AI's impact on the environment and its effect on creative industries.

Energy Use in Context

First and foremost, AI's energy consumption is often exaggerated. The challenge is understanding the scale and context of its energy usage. To put things in perspective, the technology sector, which includes all digital technologies, with AI estimated to be about 20% of it, accounts for less than 4% of global energy consumption according to the International Energy Agency's 2023 report.

Since AI often replaces other technologies, the environmental impact of those other technologies must be considered. According to a study in Nature Scientific Reports by Lannelongue et al. (2021), paper-based art could emit between 310-2,900 times more CO₂ than AI-generated art. Additionally, handwriting can be 130-1,500 times more carbon-intensive than typing with AI assistance.

Ongoing innovation is being developed in energy-efficient algorithms and specialized hardware that are already significantly reducing these demands. Without doubt, further improvements will come soon.

Water Usage Is Overstated

Another concern regarding AI technology is its water usage. It's said that data centers consume water to cool their computers, but you need to put this in a broader context to understand it. For example, X.AI (Elon Musk's AI company developing the Grok AI model) has a facility in Texas that used about the same amount of water over a two-year period as the average Texan uses in a single day. Given that Texas receives around 480 trillion liters of rainfall per year, AI's water usage has minimal impact in reality.

Another concern regarding AI technology is its water usage. It's said that data centers consume water to cool their computers, but you need to put this in a broader context to understand it. For example, X.AI (Elon Musk's AI company developing the Grok AI model) has a facility in Texas that used about the same amount of water over a two-year period as the average Texan uses in a single day. Given that Texas receives around 480 trillion liters of rainfall per year, AI's water usage has minimal impact in reality.

AI vs. Creators

Creative industries strongly argue that AI is stealing from artists. They're right when AI breaks legitimate copyright, but this doesn't happen very often. Artists' works are used to train AI, but that's not theft per se. Artists also use other artists' works to learn. Work is currently underway to address this issue. For example, some AI companies are developing systems to identify artists and pay them for their work.

On the other hand, artists can use AI as a tool. Consider independent filmmaker Sarah Rodriguez, who used AI-generated art to secure funding for her documentary. After securing funding, she hired human artists for the final artwork, demonstrating how AI can enhance artists' work rather than replace it.

AI expands access to creative solutions while simultaneously pushing human artists to innovate and redefine their craft.

Change Follows a Pattern

During the 1990s and 2000s, the internet was scrutinized for being wasteful, expensive, and a threat to traditional jobs. The same concerns emerged with the arrival of cell towers, digital cameras, and design software. Over time, significant changes occurred in society, allowing clerks to learn and effectively use Excel, and film photographers learned to master digital editing.

AI represents the next step in this evolution. The key competency for future professionals will be AI literacy, which is the ability to create effective prompts, critically evaluate AI outputs, and integrate AI-generated content with human expertise. AI courses and workshops are available at LinkedIn Learning, Coursera, and other companies to help people who want to develop and improve their AI skills.

AI Is Just a Tool

Perhaps the most critical point about AI is that it's not a person. It's a sophisticated tool that collects digital data to fulfill human requests. Given the amount of information on the internet, such tools are essential.

Creative technologies have always been a cause for concern. But with new creative technologies come new opportunities. Those who oppose technology risk being left behind, similar to the Luddites, those textile workers who protested against machinery during the Industrial Revolution.

Conclusion

The myths surrounding AI have some basis in truth, but they're often exaggerated. When we examine the figures in a broader context, we can extract the truth.

As we look toward the future, new challenges will emerge. Thoughtful policies and ethical frameworks will be needed for issues concerning data privacy, algorithmic bias, and economic displacement. But addressing these challenges requires the precise understanding this article supports. Neither uncritical enthusiasm nor apocalyptic fear will serve us well.

As more AI enters our lives, it's important to learn how to use it effectively. AI can help us in various areas, from creating art to making office work easier.

 

 

 

 

Tairngreachtaí Suntasacha!

Noteworthy Predictions

by | 2024/07/03 | Science and Technology, Opinion

If you think Artificial Intelligence (AI) is new, the opposite is the case. Ray Kurzweil has been working in the field for 61 years - longer than anyone else alive. Most of us were unaware of AI until ChatGPT came into existence recently. But now AI is at the center of the global conversation, something Ray is very happy about.

Back in 1999, when Ray predicted that we would have Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) by 2029, most experts thought he was writing fiction. But his estimate was not far off, and now many experts are of the opinion that we will have AGI even sooner. AGI is a type of AI that can solve all kinds of problems as well or (usually) better than humans. Ray now has new prophecies about what AGI will mean for us in the near term in three important areas.

Energy

Today's technology relies heavily on energy sources. For the last two hundred years fossil fuels have been used as the main sources. Unfortunately, they pollute the environment and are not renewable so we need to stop using them due to the toxic output they emit. Therefore, it is necessary to use different sources without delay, which do not involve such pollution. Fortunately, we have no shortage of options, but unfortunately, they all come with different problems. Take solar power, for example. If only 0.01% of the sunlight received by the earth was harvested, the energy needs of the human race would be completely supplied. But solar power is still not cost-effective compared to fossil fuels, although things are moving in the right direction. In particular, the costs of the chemicals associated with the technology are too high. And that is where AGI will be able to help us a lot. AGI will be able to simulate millions of materials, and find the most efficient ones for us, so that we have almost free energy at our disposal. It will be a fundamental change, without a doubt.

Manufacturing

Prices for industrial products come from three main sources: energy, labor and materials. AGI will be able to provide energy that uses low cost materials. But what about the labor cost? Significant progress has already been made in the field of robotics in automating physical work. Undoubtedly, there will be more significant improvements in this area over time. This means that most items will become incredibly cheap and plentiful.

Medicine

Price performance will continue to drop in the computing space as well. In addition, there are innovations currently underway such as quantum computing that could fuel exponential growth in the AGI field. A new term is already being used for that alone – Quantum Intelligence – but that's a topic for another day. In any case, before long AGI will be able to develop new drugs to cure all kinds of diseases. And AGI will be able to adapt drugs to the needs of one person, because each of us has a unique biochemistry. The need for clinical trials will not be the same either, as AGI will be able to simulate trials. Digital trials will allow us to tailor medicines to each patient on an individual basis. It will enable us not only to cure diseases such as cancer and Alzheimer's, but also to greatly reduce the harmful effects of ageing. This is the most significant promise of ISG: much longer and healthier lives for us.

Conclusion

I was stunned when I read the predictions mentioned above. Isn't Ray dreaming? Well, maybe he is, but Ray needs to be listened to for many reasons. First of all, his prophecies (in the nineties) came true, regarding the World Wide Web, smart phones and digital media. Second, Ray is an innovator who has had great success using AI to create new products. For example, he designed and developed an optical character recognition system back in the seventies; a music synthesizer in the eighties; 'text to language' products in the nineties, and financial technology (fintech) software at the beginning of this century.

Thirdly, Ray published one of his most provocative books to date, in 2005: 'The Singularity Is Near'. In this book, he gives us more details about the 'Singularity' - that is when ISG will be available for the first time and computers will become smarter than humans. After reading that book, it was clear to me that Ray is a world-class expert in the field of IS and ISG, and that we need to pay due attention to what he has to say.

Finally, price performance will continue to decrease in the computing field over time. There is also innovation currently underway such as quantum computing that could fuel exponential growth in the ISG field. A new term is already being used for just that – Quantum Intelligence – but that's a topic for another day.

It is clear, therefore, that there is serious thought behind his predictions, and Ray himself has special wisdom. In my opinion, we have no choice but to believe most of his predictions, even though they make us wary. But, as the old saying goes: forewarned is forearmed!

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Moltaí don chéad Phaindéim eile!

Suggestions for the next Pandemic!

by | 2023/04/12 | Current Affairs, Science and Technology, International News, National News

Suggestions for the next Pandemic!

Last week I mentioned five lessons we learned from the pandemic. In this article, I have recommendations so that we are prepared to deal with the next pandemic.

1.1. Official inquiry

We need to have an official inquiry in Ireland about the restrictive measures implemented by the government during the pandemic. Only then will we be able to improve our preparation in the future. That was the suggestion of Labor Party Deputy Duncan Smith recently.

“If we don't have that inquiry soon we will only have more media commentary, newspaper articles, best-selling books and academic assessments of what we did or didn't do. That's ultimately not useful for learning from our mistakes and building on what we did right,” Smith said.

I think he is right and this is the first step in moving towards devising better processes for the next pandemic.

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2.Government investment in proven solutions

The experts were able to study the spread and treatments of the COVID-19 virus in depth during the pandemic. The COVID-19 vaccines are effective and safe, and people who are vaccinated are less likely to get severe disease. The new type of Vaccines – messenger RNA vaccines -- are as good and in some ways better than the traditional vaccines – viral-vector vaccines. For example, it will be faster to develop new vaccines with messenger RNA vaccines than with conventional vaccines – which is extremely important.

We also know how effective masks are against any airborne virus, and especially N-95 or KN-95 type masks. Social distancing is also important as a tool against the spread of the virus, and indoors a HEPA filter is very useful to provide clean air.

Therefore, the government needs to invest sufficiently in these things:

• Personal protective equipment for people caring for people infected with the disease and especially for medical staff.
• N-95 or KN-95 masks for the general public.
• Disease tests for the general public.
• Grant assistance for companies to purchase and install HEPA filters.
• Information and teaching material explaining the instructions and rules relating to the pandemic in English and Irish.
• Grants available for researchers working in the field.

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3. Early Warning System

The sooner we find out that a disease is spreading, the fewer people will die. Here are a few strategies that would help with an early warning system:

• Wastewater monitoring: this technology is used to monitor COVID-19 in the United States. They were able to predict an increase in cases of COVID-19 in local areas a few weeks in advance by analyzing waste water data, and carry out remedial work based on that.
• Respiratory Virus and Microbiome Initiative: Researchers at the Wellcome Sanger Institute in Cambridgeshire in England plan to develop tools to identify new viral threats. It is genomic surveillance and the researchers were able to quickly identify changes in the virus in Great Britain during the COVID-19 pandemic. They are now working on a system that would be able to detect infectious diseases with one inexpensive test.

It will be important for all countries to have an early warning system, with an obligation to report anything significant to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Conclusion

In my opinion, we need to have plans in two broad areas to get the best results in the next pandemic:

• Science: It is clear that science involvement in this business is vital. We have learned a lot that will be very useful in dealing much better with the next pandemic than the last one. Relevant research is also ongoing. We will be able to find infectious diseases quickly, develop vaccines and cures quickly, and better answer the question – what resources and constraints are most important to us?
• Politics: We will not be able to implement any proposal without there being the political will at a national level. Therefore, it is extremely important to focus our attention on the three points mentioned above and to keep pressure on our government to implement them. On an international level, we need to work with other countries and the World Health Organization hand in hand, because we need to have a coordinated effort towards the next pandemic.

Let's hope we don't see another pandemic, but that if we do we'll be ready to defeat it!

Ceachtanna ón bPaindéim!

Lessons from the Pandemic!

by | 2023/04/05 | Current Affairs, Science and Technology, International News, National News

Lessons from the Pandemic!

 

It's hard to believe that more than three years have passed since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic is rarely in the news now and things are almost back to how they were before. But COVID–19 killed at least 6.8 million people worldwide and more than 13 thousand people on the island of Ireland. It is important for us now to reflect on the lessons we have learned and with that knowledge to better prepare for the next pandemic. In this article, we will highlight five important lessons from the pandemic. In the next article, we will mention five important recommendations of the next pandemic.

 

 

Lesson 1 – Put your faith in science instead of rumours

 

 

We take it for granted now, but the importance of vaccines and how quickly they were developed cannot be overemphasized. Not only that, but the development of an m-RNA vaccine is nothing short of a miracle – an innovative and revolutionary approach to vaccine design. Normally, it takes up to 15 years to design a vaccine, but it only took one year for COVID-19! Anti-vaccination misinformation did a lot of damage, because it scared some people, and they therefore refused the vaccine. Vaccines (including m-RNA vaccines) are safe, potent and effective. The more people who are vaccinated, the better the spread of the disease is prevented.

 

 

Lesson 2 – Masks work against the virus

 

 

Masks are able to slow down the spread of the coronavirus. There was uncertainty in the United States about that at first, because the authorities wanted to keep masks for doctors and medical staff to protect them from the virus. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) initially said that people who were not infected did not need to wear masks, but then changed their recommendation and said that everyone should wear a mask. Their messages were unfortunately conflicting and people were not quite sure what to do. As for what kind of masks to wear, there was a shortage of N-95 masks, and people had to wear cloth masks, which were not very effective against the virus.

 

 

Lesson 3 – Indoor air quality is important

 

 

At first, we didn't know much about how the virus spreads. But over time, we learned that airborne transmission is the most effective method of spreading the virus. Therefore, it is very important to use an air filter to remove virus particles. The best filter is a high efficiency particulate air filter (HEPA filter). Such a system is able to significantly reduce the amount of the COVID-19 virus, and it also reduces other disease vectors – such as influenza.

 

 

Lesson 4 – Wastewater monitoring is very useful in a virus pandemic

 

 

Early in the pandemic, the idea to monitor wastewater arose and that exercise grew as an approach over time. People shed particles of the COVID-19 virus before they have symptoms of the disease. Any surge in COVID-19 cases can be predicted a few weeks in advance by analyzing wastewater data. This analysis can be done area by area, and that is a great help in putting together a plan against the virus.

 

 

Lesson 5 – Genomic surveillance is necessary

 

 

Unfortunately, the virus mutates from time to time and changes the outer covering so that vaccines are no longer as effective. It is therefore necessary to design a new vaccine against a new variant, in a kind of biological warfare. Therefore, it is very important for all countries to be able to carry out genomic surveillance and find new variants as soon as possible. Even after the pandemic, it is still necessary to be alert, because you would never know when a new dangerous version will come out.

 

 

Conclusion

 

 

We feel relieved that the pandemic is now over, and life is almost back to normal. The pandemic was very painful and a large number of people died from the virus so it is easy to put the bad memories behind us and carry on as before the pandemic. But we have to go against our nature in this situation and not forget the pandemic and the lessons mentioned above. More than that, based on the lessons we've learned, we need to put measures in place to conquer the next pandemic, whenever it happens.

 

 

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