The Rise of AI
In the mid-20th century the Dartmouth Conference and that was when the rise of AI began. In August 1955 a document, known as the “Dartmouth proposal”, was drawn up by four academics. It examined some main themes of fields of research of the period, including neural networks, the theory of computability, creativity and natural language processing and recognition. The four researchers: John McCarthy, Marvin Minsky, Nathaniel Rochester, and Claude Shannon, were hoping to progress the unknown topic now called “AI”. The question of the project was “how to make machines use language, form abstractions and concepts, solve the kinds of problems now reserved for humans and improve themselves.”
Overtime, this project evolved artificial intelligence into what it is today. A survey by Pew Research Center found that 55% of Americans said they regularly use AI, while 44% believe they do not regularly use AI. According to research from AIPRM, the most common ways people use AI in the workplace are: Email spam filters: 78.5% Chatbots for customer service questions: 62.2%. More than half (53%) of students in higher education were using AI to create material for work they would be marked on. Incidents of AI and cheating in schools were reported by around a quarter (24.11%) of charter high school students, compared to just 6.44% for private high schools and 15.2% for public institutions.
Lastly, the similarity of AI to human work is confounding. The Turing Test is a deceptively simple method of determining whether a machine can demonstrate human intelligence. Not many AIs have passed the incredibly hard test, but ChatGPT 4, a recognizable tool, did pass it. Some examples of the Turing Test questions are below:
What is your most memorable childhood event and how has that impacted you today?
Describe yourself using only colors and shapes.
Describe why time flies like an arrow but fruit flies like a banana?
How do you feel when you think about your upbringing and what makes you feel that way?
This proves the power of AI; to check if you can differentiate between human writing and AI writing there are two paragraphs below: one written by AI and one written by me. Try to spot the difference!
A.
The rapid expansion of the Transatlantic Slave Trade was mainly due to the desire of sugar and unwillingness to supply European labor. This period between the 18th and 19th century was infamous for its treatment towards Africans, imported to the Americas, and had several different factors. The Europeans were dependent on sugar: "The increased consumption of sugar, and increasing demand for it, exceed all comparison with any other good used in food... no person was ever known to have the power of relinquishing the desire for more of it (Document A: British Sugar Consumption in the 18th Century)." This highlights the need for sugar and how addictive it was to the British colonists, requiring them to exert themselves when working the plantations. The extent of labor that arose was predominantly caused by sugar, it's stated "The consumers of sugar are really the prime mover, the grand cause for all the horrible injustice, of all the shocking cruelty of the African slave. (Document B: Slave Population and Sugar Production in Selected Colonies)." This proves that the need for sugar was a dominant factor, Europeans hesitant to prove their own manual labor. Emphasizing the unwillingness to supply labor Document C: Historian David Eltis on Slavery states "But while Europeans could control the production of such exotic goods... they chose not to supply labor." This desicion led to the Transatlantic Slave Trade, and this loathsome form of slavery continued with few exceptions, such as Anthony Johnson, finally being abolished by the 13th Amendment. To summarize, the Transatlantic Slave Trade began and continued, because of the addictivity of sugar and indolence of the British.
B.
The rapid growth of the Transatlantic Slave Trade was mainly caused by the high demand for tobacco and the unwillingness of Europeans to work on plantations. During the 17th and 18th centuries, this time was marked by the harsh treatment of Africans brought to the Americas, driven by several important factors. Tobacco became a popular crop, with one observer noting, “Growing tobacco requires a lot of labor, and its use has become a habit for many English people” (Document A: Tobacco Consumption in Colonial America). This shows how addictive tobacco was, making colonists depend on enslaved labor to produce it. The scale of this exploitation was evident: “The demand for tobacco fuels the system of slavery, with consumers ignoring the suffering it causes” (Document B: Tobacco Production and Slave Labor). This highlights that the need for tobacco was a major reason for the mistreatment of Africans, as Europeans preferred not to do the hard work themselves. Historian John Thornton points out, “European countries chose to import workers instead of doing the labor themselves” (Document C: Thornton on Colonial Economies). This decision helped establish the Transatlantic Slave Trade, a troubling part of history that lasted until it was gradually abolished in the 19th century. In summary, the Transatlantic Slave Trade grew because of the craving for tobacco and the reluctance of Europeans to work on the plantations.