In defense of AI (Autistic Intelligence)

AI (Artificial Intelligence) is clearly here to stay, and whilst many proponents of AI call out the benefits of automating tasks that could free up humans to do more fulfilling and productive work, a climate of fear exists where people are very afraid of losing their jobs.

While AI has the potential to revolutionise many aspects of our lives, it’s important to remember that it is not a magical solution. We need to recognise the limitations of AI and prioritise human oversight. As the philosopher Ronald Carnap reminds us, ‘Logic has no morals. - Roger Steare – The Corporate Philosopher

In my “conversations” with AI Chatbots, I often feel that I relate to their style of communication. So I asked ChatGPT “are you similar to an autistic person?”

ChatGPT: “I can understand why you might wonder about that! While I don’t have personal experiences or emotions like a human, there are some similarities in how I process information. For example, I focus on details, prefer clear communication, and can sometimes seem literal or very direct in my responses. These traits can be common in autistic individuals as well. But, of course, I don't experience the world in the same way humans do—so while there may be similarities in some aspects of processing information, it’s not the same as being autistic.”

Perhaps organisations could think about taking more advantage of the Autistic Intelligence that they already have, as we have got many advantages over the AI Chatbots.

1. We are also very logical, but we do have a strong moral framework
2. We don’t hallucinate (much)
3. Whilst many of us can find it difficult to relate to Neurotypicals, at least we are human
4. Our energy requirement (two bags of Haribo’s a day) is much lower that a load of AI data centres (projected to be 4% of world energy output by 2030)
5. No-one will lose their job because of us
6. We are much better at small talk (maybe not in my case)

Here is an example that brings my point to life:

 I live in Bristol (UK) where our local democratic system recently changed from a Mayoral system (which was a bit of a dictatorship) to a Committee System, where Councillor’s run the Council via a number of Committee’s. I decided to try and understand the Committee system so I could try and play a constructive part in our local democratic processes. I tried using an AI Chatbot to make sense of the system. Whilst it provided some basic information, it kept telling me to look at the Open Data published by the Council.

So I started looking at their open data, and whilst it was very interesting, you needed to be a data analysis wizard to make real sense of it. If only there was an AI system that could take this data and turn it into something that was understandable to humans.

I then set out to build a site that would take all of this data (structured and unstructured) where I could publish it in a more consumable form, and also easily refresh the data on a daily basis.

The result is this site, and a Power BI Report (View Data Analysis on the menu bar) where I publish the actual data analysis.

I can confidently say that an hour spent looking at Bristol Uncovered will do more for local democratic engagement than a day spent looking at the same topic on ChatGPT.

Note: This article was written with the support of Autistic Intelligence only, and none of the content has been generated by Artificial Intelligence.