The AIs of March…
Why did I choose this title? Well, I am a bit of a history buff, and the “Ides of March” are well known from the assassination of Julius Caesar in 44 BC. Spurrina was the seer who warned Caesar that he would come to harm on this day. What does that have to do with artificial intelligence (AI)? Aside from saying that they are rather punny (AIs and Ides), I think there is something more prophetical here. (Not to be confused with thinking that AIs are Oracles… let’s not start that). The month of March is the month of the god Mars (the god of war), and the Ides are the middle of the month, so we could argue that we are really not at the beginning nor the end of our journey with AI. And I study national security, armed conflict, international ethics, and the like… so I have a general war bend to a lot of my work. (Just sayin’)
The assassination of Caesar was a turning point for the Romans as well, as his death ignited a series of civil wars and ultimately the end of the Roman Republic. Sure… Caesar wanted to be a “king” or an “emperor,” and that is what got him into trouble to begin with. The Senators that killed him believed they were doing so to save the Republic. In some way, I think we are also at a juncture in liberal democratic societies where we see the rise of more and more autocratic rulers, demagogues, and authoritarianism. Many believe that they are acting in the interests of our Republics with their actions - or their AI inventions - to make democracies stronger. Yet we have all seen a sharp rise in the application of AI technologies to do the exact opposite.
More historically, though, the Ides of March had better associations with it before Caesar’s murder. It was a time of birth and renewal, the new year beginning for the Romans. March was their new beginning. So too for me, this blog is a way for me to engage more, writing timely, and hopefully insightful posts, without suffering delays due to academic publishing schedules, pop/editorial boards, and the like. Moreover, since I have only been paid a handful of times for my writing, this at least provides me with more control for my free labor.
Maybe I will turn on the “payment” option at some point. But for now, these are my thoughts, for free, to you. I only ask that you cite them if you use them, as any good academic would.
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