Israeli futurist Roey Tzezana warns of dangers from Artificial Intelligence at inaugural QODE tech conference in Brisbane

The promise and peril of our brave new world came in to sharp focus during the first day of the inaugural QODE tech conference at Brisbane’s convention centre.

Nao, a humanoid robot, which was on display at a tech conference in Paris this month. Picture: FRANCOIS GUILLOT / AFP

BRAVE NEW WORLD

“We have a problem understanding how technology will change our lives,’’ Israeli futurist Dr Roey Tzezana has warned.

You can say that again!

The promise and peril of our brave new world came in to sharp focus during the first day of the inaugural QODE tech conference at Brisbane’s convention centre.

As your diarist strolled past the exhibits of virtual reality headsets, robots, drones, “augmented bionics’’ and more, it was impossible not to recall the cautionary tale about HAL, the computer that runs amok in 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Tzezana did little to soothe those fears for the 1000 or so attendees.

During his keynote address, he stressed that artificial intelligence is not based on rules but on neural networks, much like a human brain that can learn. “It’s like a baby,’’ he said.

We’ve already seen how this can quickly go haywire.

In one case, a computer took the initiative to order some very questionable goods on the dark web, Tzezana said.

Microsoft had its own AI disaster, when bot algorithms went off the rails within 24 hours with a toxic mix of racist and sexist garbage.

Despite these stumbles, the AI future is rapidly approaching and will see things like autonomous cars using “an AI brain in the cloud’’.

We can also expect AI devices to start interacting with one another.

What will they learn? Tzezana relayed the story of how Facebook AI bots actually developed their own language. “That may not be in our best interest,’’ he said. No kidding!

Malicious AI poses another problem. In an intentional bid to deceive regulators, Volkswagen cars were recently loaded with AI algorithm that lowered emissions when they started testing the vehicles.

Tzezana offered a handful of solutions to these challenges but none were terribly reassuring.

Teaching ethics to engineers, avoiding the biases of old data and requiring AI to explain itself were some of the bromides he wheeled out.

Much like the steam engine of a bygone era, AI is “going to change everything,’’ he said.

And, like other game-changing leaps forward, he cautioned that there will be unintended consequences. What could possibly go wrong?

TO BUILD OR NOT

Will one of the building giants digging up the ground for the Queen’s Wharf project throw its hat in the ring to win the tender to actually build the $3.6 billion casino resort?

City Beat spies tell us that Probuild may not join the competition for a raft of reasons, not least because the potential daily financial penalties for delivering Brisbane’s mega-project late could be quite onerous.

Neither Probuild boss Jeff Wellburn nor a company spin doctor returned our calls seeking comment.

Since late 2017 Probuild has spearheaded the demolition of some of the old buildings on George Street and done plenty of the civil works, including the removal of more than 300,000 cubic metres of dirt.

Rival player Multiplex, meanwhile, has worked on the foreshore public space, bikeway upgrade, Mangrove Walk and Waterline Park.

Expectations now are that Multiplex, Watpac and a third player such as Hutchinson Builders will vie for the building contract, which is scheduled to be completed by 2024.

We hear that an announcement from Star Entertainment Group about its preferred contractor to carry out the construction will be made within the next few weeks.

But a Star spin doctor wouldn’t confirm this yesterday.

“The Queen’s Wharf project remains on time and on budget and we look forward to announcing in due course the preferred contractor for the major construction works of the integrated resort development,’’ he said.