Never at a loss with AI

The wines listed are the most expensive, and some little bug in AI's unnatural brain associates quality with high price

Andrew J. Linn

Friday, 21 April 2023, 11:08

Are we bored with hearing about AI, artificial intelligence, or have we decided to embrace it and adapt to the changes it will impose? For the uninitiated, let's describe AI as a huge database containing anything ever written about a subject within the reach of any smartphone or computer user. But isn't that what Google is for? Actually, the all-powerful search engine stands in awe of AI, as the typical Google search does not answer questions, only tells searchers where to find the answers. AI is not a search engine. If you ask it what it is, the reply will be something like: Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a broad field that encompasses many different approaches and techniques. The idea of creating machines that can perform tasks that would normally require human intelligence dates back centuries...

The way it spews out comprehensible facts and figures at the touch of a button can be rather frightening. No umming and erring or 'let me think'. Request a list of Spain's best wines, and within a split second appears a list starting with Vega Sicilia (Ribera del Duero) at the top followed by Bodegas Alvaro Palacios (Priorat), Bodegas Artadi (Rioja), Bodegas Marqués de Murrieta (Rioja), etc.

The wines shown are the most expensive, and some little bug in AI's unnatural brain associates quality with high price. How about Spain's best wines under €10? Well the list appears with Borsao Garnacha then Campo Viejo Tempranillo, Marques de Caceres Verdejo, Faustino VII Tempranillo, Juan Gil Monastrell etc.The thing about AI is that it learns on the job. Ask the same questions next week and the answers will be different.