Artificial intelligence, the professor of bioethics and psychology Alessandra Gorini: “The restlessness arises from the fact that the IA is seen not for what it is, that is, a machine that works thanks to algorithms, but as if it were” someone “”

In March, 46 million people were installed on their GPT chat devices, so much so as to make it the most downloaded app in the world. Artificial intelligence is fully becoming part of our lives and our daily lives. The news of a thesis discussed – for the first time in Italy – from the vaotar of a student who presented himself in front of the commission of the University of Cassino with his virtual alter ego built with the IA is of these days.

If until recently there was an urgency to understand how to manage social media, now we find ourselves in the urgency of understanding how to manage artificial intelligence. And this is not a simple problem, considering that very few people really know how the IA works and, above all, what they are, for better or for worse, its enormous potential.

He spoke about it Alessandra GoriniProfessor of bioethics, psychology and professional ethics of the Milan State University, during the Brainstorming on the future of education at the garden of ideas, an event outside Salone organized by Vanity Fair during the Milan design week.

«I think social networks today are a minor concern. With social networks we interact it is not known with whom, but still with humans, good or bad beings they are. Now, however, with artificial intelligence, disturbing things are happening and the restlessness arises from the fact that the IA is seen not for what it is, that is, a machine that works thanks to algorithms, but as if it were “someone”, “said Professor Gorini. «Whoever uses it and asks a question, says thanks or, in other cases, apologize. With artificial intelligence we are doing incredible things, and this concerns everyone, even artificial intelligence experts. Things that denote how it is exchanged for an entity very similar to us, if not “like us”. Beyond the fact that it can also be nice – because it means that artificial intelligence works well – this has however led to the fact that many people have now “resolved” the problem of solitude because they speak with GPT chat “.

The phenomenon of people who turn to the AI ​​as they would do with a psychotherapist is already statistically detectable: 20% of the Gen Z has used the IA to receive emotional support. A figure that raises worrying questions: why do they always choose a chatbot instead of contacting a professional?

“It is clear, chat GPT does not cost, you don’t have to go in front of someone to be seen in the face, all those problems that have always led people to turn little to the psychological ones, such as the social stigma,” specified the teacher. «From his, chat GPT has the fact of apparently making good therapy. And I apparently say, because when the expert puts himself in front of the chatbot he understands that he is not really delicious, yet people believe it today ».

To live in the world in which we are, the central question to ask should therefore be: “But how do this tool how do I choose to use it?”.
“Surely, education must change to the extent that we have to understand with what we are dealing with,” the teacher clarified. «Who knows what IA is and how exactly does it work? Very few. A book that I read recently has opened a world to me, and now every time I touch that button I do it with a completely different sense. The theme, therefore, is educating to everything that is happening now in the world. Because only through education and awareness can we decide how to use cell phone, how to use social media, how to use artificial intelligence. None of this is only deleterious. However, we must understand what the negative aspect is and what is the positive one ».

The powerful element of these tools lies in the fact that we can all use them and if we use them well they can become an inexhaustible source of information. Artificial intelligence is increasingly widespread, for this reason it is necessary to learn to use it in the best possible way.

“I recently made a very strong similarity. Those who have not seen the film will probably know the story of the physicist Robert Oppenheimer, “Professor Gorini added during the brainstorming of the garden of ideas. “What he created was then used to generate the atomic bomb and when he was asked to participate in another very important project, in which he would have been the central person, he said” No, I take off, I don’t want to do anything of this kind anymore, because what I did, and that it could be something extremely positive, led to the atomic bomb “. Now, artificial intelligence is also something that has enormous potential, in a positive and negative sense. But it has one more problem than the atomic bomb: the atomics had few, the IA instead we all have it. In some ways, therefore I believe it is even more dangerous and at the same time more advantageous. However, it is up to us, to the human being to decide how to use it. Because each of us has the opportunity and the freedom to choose what to do. Always remembering that education for knowledge must first come to the basis of any human decision ».