Maria Hedblom, Assistant Professor Computer Science at the School of Engineering (JTH), gave an AI lecture in the JMW Hall at the University Library on 27 March. Several audience members came up and talked to her afterwards.

Great interest in AI lecture

There was great interest in the JU LIVE lecture on Artificial Intelligence (AI) with Maria Hedblom, Assistant Professor Computer Science at the School of Engineering (JTH), Jönköping University (JU) on 27 March.

"Very interesting and rewarding", says two of the listeners, Sture Björkander and Karin Westmar Björkander.

A record number of people, 62, had registered for the JU LIVE lecture.

The title of the lecture was "Artificial Intelligence: Nobel Prize, fake news and future science fiction.” The fact that two AI researchers, Geoffrey Hinton and John Hopfield, were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2024 shows the impact AI has in many areas, Maria Hedblom emphasizes. Geoffrey Hinton is now openly critical of AI development, but Maria Hedblom and many other researchers do not share such a negative vision of the future.

"Byt why would AI do that?"

"The classic example from several movies is that AI takes over the world and concludes that humans are no longer needed. Then we assume that AI will be just like us and want to be in a position of power, but why would AI want that? We are not interested in creating AI that is a human copy, but AI that will make our lives easier and are essentially tools for different problem-solving areas,” says Maria.

Another important issue is about thinking through the instructions we give to AI systems. Maria mentions a famous thought experiment as an example where AI is tasked with making as many paper clips as possible. As a result of that, Earth's resources eventually run out, and the AI system builds a space rocket and continues making paper clips on another planet.

“That is when we grow as people”

She also talked about not losing ourselves by locking ourselves into the solution corridors that technology gives us.

“There are an alarming number of young people who cannot read today or navigate with a map without using GPS. It is good that we can get help with what we find difficult, but we must be challenged as well. That is when we increase our knowledge and grow as people.”

However, Maria does not think we should be too worried about AI developments.

"We will be able to use this technology for so many good things. I think AI can help us solve some of the big problems we have created for ourselves, like the energy crisis and climate change. But let's not forget that we are the ones who will lead this development. AI is a tool that we should use, but not to the point where we do not think for ourselves.”

"Things are moving a little too fast"

Maria was pleased to have the opportunity to lecture to the public on such a large and topical subject as AI. A record number of 62 people registered for her JU LIVE lecture. Two of them were Sture Björkander and Karin Westmar Björkander.

"This is a very interesting topic that we need to know more about. There are great opportunities in all this, but also great problems, one can imagine. What happens if AI technology falls into the wrong hands and we become more and more concerned about what is true?” says Sture Björkander.

“Yes, you have to be very critical of sources and it's scary that it's possible to create fake images, movies, and voices with AI. It feels like things are moving a little too fast and you do not know where it will end. We are probably also getting lazier with this technology and not using our brains in the same way," says Karin Westmar Björkander.

Next JU LIVE is the 24 April

JU LIVE is a joint event between Folkuniversitetet and Jönköping University, which is free and open to everyone.

The next JU LIVE is the last one for the spring and it will be held on 24 April. Ulf Aagerup, Senior Lecturer and Associate Professor at JIBS, will give a lecture on the title: "Does visible consumption create better consumers.” Sign up for the lecture and read more about JU LIVE here.