Will AI Ever Gain Human Trust and Trusting Our "Grey Areas" | Ep 4

Trust Factor with Rob Greenlee focuses on all aspects to building human trust in online communications, only on 100TV.

In Episode 4, trusting our own gray areas of internal critical common sense, and will AI be worthy of human trust? Hi, I'm Rob Greenlee here again in Episode 4. Trust Factor. Thank you for joining me today. The trust factor in your life is essential, and the lack or abundance of it profoundly impacts the quality of your life. Trust is the number one factor in all of our lives right now. So these are very important topics that I'm going to cover this week to help you see what, what the opportunity of trust is in our society and our culture and in your life. So thank you for joining me each week with this show. If this is the first time you've seen me on this show, I appreciate you joining me here. What we try and do on this show every week is to learn more about the factors of trust and bring more positive human experiences to our lives and others here every week. So we are also available now as an audio podcast on Apple Podcasts. And so definitely follow us there and subscribe on YouTube channel, which is probably the first time you're seeing this is off of the YouTube channel. But let's get going. Trust our own gray areas of internal critical common sense is the first topic that, that I wanna talk about. And it really refers to relying on our own instincts, critical thinking, and our investigational instincts about trying to learn more and dig deeper and follow our common sense, follow our intuition, follow our personal values around judgment when faced with ambiguous and complex situations. So this is a very much not playing two ends of a spectrum. This is about looking at every situation you have in your life and looking for, to some degree, what we're looking for is to some degree a common ground. Now, granted, I almost hesitate to say that, that common ground term, because it feels like in our society and our culture that we are so far away from any kind of common ground. And that's why I use the term gray areas, and that's where Two things can be partially true. And so when we get thrown into extremes on one side or another of an issue, that puts us into territory that creates mistrust or distrust with other people that we're talking to because we're not open to other ways of thinking about it, this particular topic, and being open to other ways of looking at things. And not everything can be neatly categorized as right or wrong, black and white. And that sometimes makes it hard for us to navigate the nuances and uncertainties of, of really using our own internal values as a compass. So how do we look at the world using our own values and our own kind of judgment and see the information that we're getting and to more, I guess I say, more fairly consider what is being shared with us. And is there an aspect of this that is true on both sides that we can find to find maybe a new outcome or a new way of looking at the situation? And we need to really trust our own values too that can help guide us. Whether you're a progressive or conservative, an independent, or you're religious, or you're an atheist. Those are legitimate places to be as a human being based on our biology and how we are raised. And so those that have those two perspectives feel valid, and they should be seen as valid., and even those that don't go the religious route but are spiritual too. They have a unique perspective on these areas as well. And we always have been somewhat tribal in our views of things. So as we think about these groups or these ways of thinking, they tend to create tribal associations that are really associated with building community. Of commonality. And I think that's the key takeaway here. And that's why we are in this world that we're in right now of so much division, mistrust, is because all the parties involved are not respecting each side's views and how we were raised, how, what our values are, how we see the world may be different based on the strength of one side of our brain or the other. There's been research that said that there are aspects of the human brain that are different on the left side of the hemisphere and on the right side of the hemisphere. And depending on how much those two sides blend with each other dictates somewhat our views. We tend to have a very, like I say, yin and yang kind of perspective on our lives and our world. I mean, our world, if you really think about it, is very polar. Polarized, right? It's very one or zero. Even computers are one and zero, right? So you have two choices. There's the Republicans and there's the Democrats. There's the atheists and the religion. So we all travel through our lives with a decision to make. Which side of this fence are we going to operate in? And this commonality that I'm talking about with connection also impacts our friendships and our love and how we view others in our lives and how we value those people. So there's so many complex issues that are going on here. And while at the same time, I have to say that these aspects of human nature, and I would say they're human nature, can be also used against us and can be somewhat, I hate to say, but weaponized against each other. Based on creating fear or creating some sort of a distrust of one side or another that they have evil intent, or, and they may have evil intent. That's a possibility as well. So that's part of the filter that we need to apply to our own lives as we look for trust. And that's why this topic is so important. And there may be more unambiguous answers or basically establish your own personal rules based on your upbringing, and, and also where our internal critical common sense comes into play here. I mean, we need to really think deep inside on every issue that we're faced in our lives and think critically about what makes sense to us. What are our values? What is the common sense way of viewing this. And it may be biased based on those tribal tendencies that we have. And up till now, that's been okay. But it just seems like over the last few years that our common sense is not being valued anymore. And I wonder why that is. So it's going to be important that we all draw on our past experiences, our knowledge that we've earned over however many years. I mean, if you're a young person, you haven't really been on this planet for that long.. But if you're an older person, you have had a lot of experiences in your life that can drive your values and give you a little bit more to work with to come up with some analytical thinking that can help you make more informed decisions and judgments in your life. And there are a few considerations when trusting our own gray area. Of decision-making too. So I've been talking a lot about like the polarization of our views and that being human nature, but I do think that we have the intelligence to pull together a gray area view versus a black and white view. And I do think that there is a synergy. I mean, if you think of the concept of yin and yang, right? So that's black and white intertwined together. I think that there is a certain amount of gray that exists in every topic, every disagreement, every difference in view that we can all come to a common viewpoint on, but it's also very important about using our self-awareness that allows us to understand our biases, and our beliefs and our limitations and our own perceptions and our own knowledge and not let that cloud our judgment on our own values and how we apply these concepts. And I know that this is, this can be very complicated and confusing type of a topic to talk about, but at the end of the day, what I'm really driving at is asking you, and pleading with the world here before we get to a point where it's irreconcilable differences, that we pull back and we consider other people's views as valid as well. And this is where the aspect of, I think it's important to allow for free speech and to develop a little bit of a thick skin about your own views and not take everything so personally. And I think that the influence of external factors, being aware of our own tendencies to react or maybe overreact, can help us approach situations with a more open mind. And think about the other person before you lash out at them or tell them that they're all wrong. Let's think about this a little bit more and take the time to also reflect on a situation, you know, that you're faced with, and our own critical thinking abilities that allow us to consider different perspectives. And this is— I guess this is the common thread that I have in this whole talk here, is analyze the potential consequences and weigh the available information before concluding a decision that causes you to lash out at another person that maybe has a different view than you do. And being a little bit reflective on your thoughts can help us recognize those patterns and to connect dots. And I think that's also a key concept to help people move beyond this partisanship that we see in the world today is to look for connecting dots. And this is, when I say connecting dots, these are connecting bits of information or data that you can add up. It's almost following like a breadcrumb to a destination, right? Or a cairn when it comes to hiking, that's a stack of rocks. That's the analogy is that we all need to find those connecting elements that can help us come up with more informed conclusions. Look at the little bits of information that we are given out there. Don't come to a very quick decision on those little bits of information. Try and roll up those little connecting dots and think about how maybe things might connect to each other, and that might give us a better view of what might be happening in our world as well. And may also impact how we react to situations if we can see that there's something going on here. There's other elements that are connecting up here that we can see that others may not see that may help us come to a better answer or better reaction or a better conclusion. And we're going to have to increasingly go back to trusting our gut. How does this make us feel in a kind of a little bit less of a reactionary type of a thing. It's like a gut feeling or intuition. We need to tap more into our intuition about what's happening in the world and what makes sense that can provide some valuable insights, especially in areas of logic and evidence, especially when the evidence is maybe limited your gut feeling is really based on your subconscious. And I think what you've been shown when you've been raised and you've been up— your upbringing by your parents or your experiences in school or those subconscious messages that you've had have a big impact. And I think that to some degree, those subconscious messages, we may be influenced in our media, in our society that is starting to influence those subconscious views on our lives. And maybe because of increased fear and stress, that those subconscious reactions are becoming increasingly hyperactive or overreactive, and we're not applying our basic information processing at a reasonable level based on our past experience and, and knowledge. We may be throwing out knowledge that we've gained over the years because we're emotionally reacting to things. So I think intuition is so important to create caution and not to, but not to solely rely on it too, because it may be sending you maybe deceptive information., but it can also help serve as a helpful guide when combined with other forms of critical thinking as well. So seeking out diverse perspectives, engaging with people who hold different viewpoints, can broaden our understanding and challenge our assumptions. It helps us identify blind spots and biases that we might have. That may be influencing our thinking. So actively seeking out diverse perspectives can help us be more rounded in our judgments and as our humans. So I think it's so important in cultivating a habit of continuous learning, reading books, staying informed from a diverse range of sources, not just watching one news channel or one source of information. I think it's critical. And over time, you will develop a gut feeling for, you know, to some degree, the information that you trust and information that you value more based on that critical thinking process. And that actually will culminate, I think, because it's happened to me over the last couple of years, in a habit of continuously learning and staying informed. About various topics that can help. Maybe there's an additional phase, an initial phase, where you're feeling a lot of stress and pressure based on the information that you're getting because it may be disturbing to you, but it does help you have a broader understanding of the world and allows us to navigate complex situations with more confidence. So the more you dig into understanding the world around you— don't bury your head in the sand— but I think it's very important to, to go after sources that are not so much focused on building fear and emotional reactions and finger-pointing and playing games like that, and unless there is a reasonable reason for having that level of concern, right? Because maybe there are people out there that are trying to deceive us and lie to us and manipulate us and take advantage of us. And that's why it's so critical for us to be really aware of what that looks like. And the only way you can do that is to be open to different views and see information from different sources and being willing to take some calculated risks in embracing some kind of gray areas of ambiguity. I know that's such a difficult concept. It's a form of uncertainty and is often necessary when relying on internal critical common sense is that ambiguity is in our world at a level that's never been there before. I know it's a critical skill at major corporations, technology companies, is being able to handle ambiguity and be able to navigate your way through ambiguity to find clarity. And I think that is a key skill that all of us need to work on to develop., and it's an opportunity for us to grow and to become more skilled navigators of our world. Increasingly, it causes us to trust the gray areas of our internal critical common sense in balancing the rationality and the intuition, drawing upon our internal resources to make informed decisions and views. Say, it requires self-awareness, reflection, open-mindedness, and a willingness to embrace uncertainty. By honing our critical thinking abilities and trusting our judgment, we can navigate complex situations with confidence. And I know that's, if any of us can achieve, that's a huge accomplishment. And I think that is something that I'm trying to do as much as I can in my life. And it's very difficult. And I'm not saying that what I'm saying here is easy or easy to comprehend or easy to do, because I don't believe it is. But it is something that this world that we live in today is requiring us to have these skills to be able to navigate appropriately. So I'm gonna change gears here really quick and talk a little bit about artificial intelligence. And I had a lead-in on this, and in today's world where abundant Information is available online. Verifying and trusting that information— I know last week's episode I talked about this to some degree— trusting information that we get in our world can be challenging. But can we trust artificial intelligence information? And I think this is a topic that I'm going to dive a lot into in coming episodes. Artificial intelligence, or AI, is such a growing issue in our world that is going to unlock all sorts of questions about whether AI will be worthy of human trust in a very complex, multifaceted world that AI presents to us. I mean, I'm starting to get blown away by the complexity of the change that is likely coming because of artificial intelligence and what we're seeing with chat GPT and Bard from Google. These are things that we're just seeing somewhat the beginning of this, but it's accelerating very rapidly. And it depends on various factors, really, whether or not we can trust this. It depends on its design, development, implementation of these systems. And actually, there's been a lot of discussion of potential regulatory frameworks and ethical considerations surrounding the usage of AI. While AI has the potential to bring numerous benefits to society, it also presents challenges and risks that need to be thought about and addressed. And to some degree, all of us need to be wary of this and what the potential consequences are of this technology getting out of control, or we don't have any kind of regulatory framework or any kind of ethical considerations around this technology. So some several key factors can influence trust in AI. AI systems need to deliver reliable and accurate results to earn human trust consistently. So they can't just do it sporadically. Transparency in how AI algorithms make decisions is critical and crucial for users to understand and verify the outcomes. So trust in this, in AI algorithms, is I think the number one issue. And if AI systems consistently demonstrate their capabilities to and perform well, trust can be fostered. It is a possibility. But AI needs to have ethical and responsible frameworks Trust in AI is also tied to how it's developed and how it's used. Ethical considerations are critical, such as avoiding biases, which I think is, from what I'm seeing, is one of the most important issues in AI, because I'm already starting to see biases that are popping up in AI based on a lot of the stuff I was talking about earlier. And so it's very important that we basically have these platforms that avoid bias. AI systems should be designed and trained to ensure they treat all individuals ethically and do not discriminate against anyone or groups. AI should be accountable to facts and history No thumb on the scale based on political leanings, but recognizing that topics have biases and those need to be considered. Transparency and explainability. Trust can be enhanced when AI systems explain their decisions and why they display certain results and why AI systems arrive at a particular conclusion. Or recommend an important aspect for users to trust in this judgment. Data privacy and security. Trust is closely related to protecting personal data and maintaining a robust security framework. Users need assurance that their data is handled securely with respect to privacy, especially once we get into areas like medical information, financial information that's manipulated by AI technology. There needs to be frameworks to be able to protect that information, and that is all what I've been talking about— regulatory framework and oversights of the mechanisms that help ensure AI systems are developed and deployed responsibly. Clear guidelines and standards can instill trust by holding AI developers and users accountable for their actions. So it's very important to note that trust in AI is not solely determined by technology advancements, but also by the actions and decisions of humans. So humans need to be core to this. We need to make AI work for us, not make AI to work for itself against us, which I think unfortunately could be the outcome here. It basically involves developing and deploying AI systems and AI research policymakers and society as a whole. We need to work towards building AI systems that are worthy of human trust. So, well, that's my final segment on the main topics of the show. And so I wanted to run through quickly here the comments. From last week's show, episode 3, I got a comment from Stone Fruit for Juicy Marketing. The thoughts, it says, critical thought is the sharpest quill in our quiver, and emotional intelligence, emotionally intelligent people don't see the world through just one set of peepers. They see the world through other people's eyes. And Rebecca Gunter, in the world of ChatGPT and AI-generated images, we need to have some sort of filter by which to gauge one's relationships in the generation of those AI objects. And Rebecca also says, I fully support this line of critical thinking about TikTok ban and what the agenda really is and who it benefits. So I'm also on Twitter. You can find me on Twitter @RobGreenlee, and I'm also on LinkedIn as well. That's linkedin.com/in/RobGreenlee, and my Twitter account is @RobGreenlee. So I just want to thank you for joining me again on episode 4 of Trust Factor, and I hope you come back and check out episode 5 next, next time. So you can look for me here on Mondays on YouTube. So subscribe to the YouTube channel, and then as a podcast, subscribe to that as well. So thank you so much for joining me again on the show, and I hope you have a wonderful week. Thank you.