Living and Dealing with the Triple “A”s
– Musings of Dr. Jamie Hsu, 4.16.2019
We are experiencing an onslaught of the triple “A”s (automation, artificial intelligence, and augmented reality) in every aspect of our lives. You can’t go to any technical conferences or read any technology news without seeing one the three “A”s. Are the triple “A”s a blessing or a curse to your career or to your life? And how do you live with them or deal with them?
Automation has been with us for a long time. We are used to having robots build cars, sweep floors, test our blood, search for new stars in the sky, and do many other routine, tedious, or dangerous tasks. Under this simple automation, we humans are still in control and feel that we are the masters.
As computers, data, and algorithms become more advanced and ubiquitous, the machines begin to acquire some human-like intelligence. Artificial Intelligence can recognize faces, understand our preferences, play games with us, forecast weather, pick our favorite music and restaurants, and even introduce us to new friends. This can be helpful, annoying, or even frightening, depending on the types of interactions you have.
A more recent development is Augmented Reality, where virtual and real environments are combined. A simple example is a popular photo enhancing application that can change the portrait and add a virtual background. In more serious technical applications, drivers, pilots and astronauts use simulators to create augmented realities for training and testing.
The three “A”s are overwhelming our lives, with some welcoming and some unwelcoming consequences. It is getting harder to know what is real and what is not, or even whom we are dealing with: machine or human.
The best approach to dealing with this tsunami of “A”s is to be grounded in a fourth A: Authenticity — to be true to ourselves and to our principles. It is like practicing the Zen Buddhist meditation: let the aura of purity shield us from some of the unwanted “A”s.
If we have the essential A of Authenticity in place, we can live harmoniously with automation, artificial intelligence, and augmented reality.
與3 ’A’ 和諧共存
-作者 許俊宸博士
-中譯 薛乃綺
我們正在經歷3A(Automation自動化、AI人工智能、AR虛擬實境)對我們生活中各方面所產生的巨大影響。在現今任何的技術研討會或技術相關的新聞、 你幾乎無法不聽到3A。究竟這3個A對你的人生職涯是一種好事、還是壞事？我們如何與它們共處或與它們打交道？
自動化在我們周遭已經許久。我們習慣讓機器人製造車子、掃地、測試我們的血液、尋找天空中的新星、還有做許多日常瑣事、或危險的任務。這種簡單的自動化作業，仍處於人類控制之下，並認為我們仍是主人。
隨著電腦、數據、及邏輯變得越來越先進，且無所不在，機器也開始獲得一些類似像人類一樣的智能。人工智能可以識別面孔，了解我們的偏好、跟我們一起玩遊戲、預測天氣，挑選我們最喜歡的音樂與餐廳，甚至把我們介紹給新朋友。依據你所使用各種不同交流介面，它們可能讓你覺得很有幫助、可能覺得煩人甚至很可怕。
最近在虛擬實境上有更多的發展，主要是虛擬和真實環境的相互結合。有個簡單的例子，是將受歡迎照片透過調整肖像及增加虛擬背景來強化整個情境功能。在更嚴肅的技術應用上，駕駛員、飛行員和太空人則用來模擬真實情境作為訓練與測試使用。
3個A對我們生活有強大的影響，伴隨著一些受人歡迎、也有些不受歡迎的結果，讓人越來越難以了解什麼是真實的、什麼是不真實的，甚至是跟誰在打交道：機械或是人類。
對應這3個A的大巨浪來襲，最佳的方法是以纯真忠實為基礎，並以忠於自我为原則。就像修練佛教禪法一樣：讓純淨的光環保護我們免受到3A中不受歡迎的負面影響。
如若我們內心能擁有纯真忠實的大A(Authenticity)，分辨真偽，忠於自我，那自然能與Automation自動化、AI人工智能、AR虛擬實境這3個A和諧共處了。
