Artificial Intelligence is invading: Does it have a future on the coast?
A wave is about to inundate the coastal region. This is not a tidal wave from some wayward tsunami, but rather the generative wave of artificial intelligence (AI).
For the purposes of this column, we are going to assume that you know what AI is. The last thing this paper wants to do is talk (or write) down to its readers.
But before we delve into artificial intelligence, we need to acknowledge and discuss one recent electronic innovation: the autonomous, remote-controlled golf caddy.
Alas, it exhibits only semi-artificial intelligence (SAI — pronounced “sigh”), but it is noteworthy, nonetheless.
Artificial intelligence on the golf course? What could go wrong, right?
As reported in the August Kiplinger Retirement Report, remote golf caddies are “the game’s hottest high-tech accessory,” and for good reason.
A full golf bag with clubs can weigh as much as 30-35 pounds. With something of that magnitude slung over one’s shoulder, is it any wonder that early 20th century observers, including Mark Twain, claimed that “golf is a good walk spoiled”?
By the 1950s, the motorized golf cart had made its appearance on the links, creating the fairway freeway. The cart grew rapidly in popularity, and by the end of the century, this mechanized caddy had largely replaced the human shoulder, except in professional golf tournaments and orthopedics.
But the cart still required someone to drive it. Enter the remote-controlled caddy, endowed with GPS. Many models are capable of not just dutifully following the meandering golfer, but also indicating yardage to the green, distance to all hazards and, naturally, carrying a bag of clubs as the duffer walks the course.
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All of which raises the question of whether the renovation and transformation of Milford’s Shawnee Country Club into the Southern Delaware Golf Club will include the introduction of a fleet of remote-controlled caddies, thereby creating opportunities for a good walk, unspoiled?
AI or A1? One is surely more tempting than the other
We now turn to artificial intelligence itself; thank you for your patience.
If you believe AI, sometimes mistakenly written as A1, is only a sauce for steak, pork, and chicken, you will find what follows to be enlightening.
Artificial intelligence might have applicability to county governing bodies (and I use that term loosely) like Planning & Zoning (P&Z). At the very least, it would be entertaining to compare the planning decisions generated by AI vis-à-vis those determined by humans exhibiting artificial, as in “not real,” intelligence.
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The use of “artificial” in the previous sentence is a good example of what lexicologists call “word-sense disambiguation.” Lexicologists are one of the few doctors that coastal seniors do not need to see on a regular basis. And disambiguation is not an illness for which Big Pharma is advertising a uniquely named drug on cable TV.
Rather, “word-sense disambiguation” is simply the process of identifying which meaning of a word is intended in a given context, which really doesn’t change the observations above regarding P&Z.
Artificial intelligence on the menu? It could be coming
Artificial intelligence could also have applicability to the local restaurant scene, raising the culinary coast to new highs (or hautes) in cuisine.
For instance, AI might assist in the development of new designs for the sauce drizzled on dining plates, the latter having become a required aspect of plating technique in high-end restaurants.
In this regard, chefs have been advised to use sauce like paint on their plates, and painting is an area in which practitioners of AI already have succeeded, or in culinary terms, shown their chops.
However, it goes without saying that AI’s greatest impact would likely lie in applications to the “apps” portion of the menu.
From gene editing to 'jean editing'? A new frontier
Artificial intelligence might also find a home at the Tanger Outlets. Southern Delaware Tourism reports that tax-free shopping is the third most cited reason for visiting the coast. In that realm, AI could have any number of uses, although “jean editing” stands out.
AI could use data mining to change the very nature of the fabric from which jeans are fabricated. (Can it just be coincidence that denim spelled backwards is mined?) Among other things, this new material might be capable of changing color when and where the wearer desires.
A talented tailor, not to be confused with a touring Taylor, could then fashion a pair of pants made from this not-so-artificial material. It would be the envy of Levi Strauss, Henry David Lee and Randy Wrangler.
Finally, there’s an obvious need to apply artificial intelligence to the world (or whirl) of bicycling. As more and more cyclists take to coastal roads and trails, a local survey identified safety as their chief concern. The trails probably present the greater danger since regulations governing passage on those paths, what might be referred to as “trail ways,” are not as well known or codified.
Until that changes, new bikes ought to feature such AI innovations as automatic braking systems, blind-spot monitors, pedestrian detection devices, and, of course, GPS programmed to find the closest watering hole.
Mike Berger is a freelance writer and retired university administrator with a home in Lewes. Contact him at edadvice@comcast.net.
This article originally appeared on Salisbury Daily Times: How will AI change the region?
