Ads remind us about AI’s promise, potential perils

Amid the barrage of election ads this fall, you might have seen a handful of commercials with a much lighter tone. Featuring a rising television star, the ads tout a new use of artificial intelligence.

They’re well-written and well-acted. They’re amusing. They offer a much-needed break from complaints about one candidate’s existential threat to our future and pledges that another candidate will right all of society’s wrongs.

Yet even these apolitical ads leave this observer with a hint of unease.

The advertising campaign focuses on Apple Intelligence, part of the latest iPhone. Each ad features Bella Ramsey, a 21-year-old English actress who first attracted widespread notice as a teen in “Game of Thrones.” Now she stars in another HBO hit, “The Last of Us.”

In each commercial, Ramsey’s phone helps her solve a minor predicament.

In one, the phone feeds her the forgotten name of a man she sees at a party. In another, Ramsey helps a father trying without success to console his sad daughter. The phone creates a video montage of memories of the girl’s dead pet fish.

In a third ad, the phone summarizes a neglected movie pitch Ramsey’s agent has emailed to her. Ramsey does not have to admit that she never read the email or the pitch. Her recitation of the phone-generated summary even convinces the agent that Ramsey is interested in the part.

Each commercial ends with Ramsey offering the camera a Mona Lisa smile. The message? Once again, Apple Intelligence saves the day.

Nothing about the ads appears particularly objectionable. But the third ad did prompt this viewer to think more about the pros and cons of AI.

No one will suffer because an actress ignores a tedious movie pitch and relies instead on a brief summary crafted by AI. But that same smartphone feature also could help people skim much more substantial written communication.

If people with the new iPhone or its non-Apple equivalents decide to avoid the hassle of reading full research reports or business briefings or legal documents, there’s a good chance that vital information will get lost in translation.

Users unaccustomed to the ease of AI might use the function sporadically, creating bullet points or summaries of documents they already have read completely. AI-generated content might even spur them to revisit portions of the full report that deserve further attention.

But those growing up with the comforts of AI might see in it a substitute for deeper reading and reflection. That’s especially true if most of their peers use AI in the same way. If everyone relies on the same watered-down knowledge about a particular topic, no one will realize that he has lost important background information or helpful nuance.

The CliffsNotes will replace the full artistic work.

This column already makes me sound like an old fogey. I won’t make things any better for myself by noting that the Bella Ramsey ads caused me to recall a storyline from the late 1960s dystopian television show “The Prisoner.”

In an episode titled “The General,” the evil forces that operate a prison-like community called the Village unveil a new educational tool called Speed Learn. Simply by sitting in front of a television screen for seconds or minutes at a time, villagers appear to achieve graduate-level mastery of European history.

Yet the program has a clear downside. Patrick McGoohan’s titular character gets his first taste of the problem after he witnesses a 15-second session on “Europe since Napoleon.” Quizzed about its contents the following day, McGoohan answers each question promptly and correctly. Yet the Village’s top officer parrots the final answer word for word as McGoohan recites it.

Clearly, the people in charge of Speed Learn know exactly what “students” have learned.

Later, a disenchanted “cog in the machine” trips McGoohan up.

“What was the treaty of Adrianople?” he asks.

“September 1829,” McGoohan responds, spouting the one data point imprinted on his mind during the Speed Learn session.

“Wrong. I said what, not when. You need some special coaching.”

Speed Learn offered unsuspecting villagers only selected bits of information. It provided no context. It omitted dissenting views. It failed to foster the type of learning that promotes innovation and advancement.

I’m not ready to lump AI in with the fictional Speed Learn. Used well, artificial intelligence can produce multiple benefits for society.

Yet AI’s power to simplify the complex comes with a price. We would be wise to keep potential unintended consequences in mind — even as we chuckle about Bella Ramsey’s phone-enhanced escapades.

Mitch Kokai is senior political analyst for the John Locke Foundation.