A Science Journalist’s Journey to Understand AI
7 lessons author Kathryn Hulick learned while writing her educational books about AI and other scientific topics
A Science Journalist’s Journey to Understand AI
Preview:
As a teenager, I discovered a worn copy of the book Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas Hofstadter on a bookshelf at home. It still had a computer punch card in it that my Mom had used as a bookmark, back when she briefly worked as a programmer in the early 1980s. Reading that book was like falling into another world. I found myself thinking about the mind and computers in brand new ways. I learned about Alan Turing’s work for the first time. I wondered, “Will computers ever think?” and “What is thinking, anyways?” I haven’t stopped wondering about these questions since.
Though I considered pursuing a career in computer science or cognitive science, I wound up taking a different path. I’m a science journalist who also writes books and articles that introduce scientific concepts to kids and teens. Though I’ve written about everything from outer space to dinosaurs, the topics I gravitate towards most often are computers, robots, and artificial intelligence.
For example, my newest book for kids and teens, Welcome to the Future: Robot Friends, Fusion Energy, Pet Dinosaurs and More, explores how ten different technologies could change the world in the future, starting with robot servants and ending with superintelligence. My job when I begin to write a new article or book, including this one, is to work towards understanding the topic as completely as I can. I care very much about giving kids accurate information. With very technical topics, such as artificial neural networks, grasping the concepts poses a huge challenge! On several occasions throughout my career, I’ve realized that I’d been thinking about things all wrong.
I’d like to share some of the new understandings I’ve come to about AI and cognitive science along the way, as well as what changed my mind or shifted my perspective. I hope these pointers help when you are communicating about AI to those who aren’t experts.