Event language
UI language
<p><strong>Core idea:</strong> AI does not replace the need for people who understand hardware, software, or the world we live in. It highlights the need. When pocket calculators were new decades ago, people were suddenly freed from the tedium of calculating arithmetic by hand. Some people trusted the answers received from these machines without thinking about the plausibility of the answer they received. For instance, does 7 divided by 6 actually equal 42? Ascertaining the plausibility of an answer from a pocket calculator is easy for anyone who knows arithmetic. Answers from an AI may seem plausible, but if the problem is complex, how can we truly know if it is? For AI to meaningfully and safely assist people with their projects, we need to have ongoing discussions on how we can best use this powerful new tool so that it can, hopefully, enable more good than harm in our world. In the realm of open hardware development, as well as software, can AI expand the realm of open designs? Can communities, such as hackerspaces, use AI to accelerate, rather than merely centralize, the next phase of hardware innovation? These are some of the questions explored in this short introductory talk. AI is too new for answers, but it is important for all of us to be asking questions, and exploring answers amongst ourselves.</p><p><strong>Themes and Questions</strong></p><ul><li><p>Environmental effects aside, from a user’s perspective, AI can seemingly effortlessly propose hardware designs, but it currently seems that only people who devote time and play with hardware can evaluate, build, and iterate on them. How will this look in the future?</p></li></ul><ul><li><p>Can open hardware help AI create more open hardware, rather than merely provide training data for more corporate-controlled proprietary control of technology? </p></li></ul><ul><li><p>In the face of AI giving seemingly easy answers to complex problems to anyone in the world with a computer, can hackerspace communities continue to provide environments where open hardware is built, tested, repaired, and improved?</p></li></ul><ul><li><p>Used as a tool in the right hands, using AI can speed up design cycles, documentation, troubleshooting, and learning. What happens in the wrong hands?</p></li></ul><ul><li><p>Can AI-assisted guidance help more people move from interest to capability? Can this guidance work better at supportive communities, such as hackerspace?</p></li></ul><p><strong>Takeaway</strong></p><p>AI is an incredibly powerful tool that seems to give everyone the ability to solve complex problems. Yet, how do we know if these problems are solved well? What are the consequences of implementing these solutions? What if the solution is too complex for anyone to understand? Can we develop skills to use this new and rapidly evolving technology in ways that improves our lives? Let’s start asking questions, and explore possible answers to these and other important questions.</p><strong></strong>
