The following letter to the editor from reader Jay Wilson was submitted in response to our story 'Council puts a caveat on its pledge to build 18,000 homes', published March 1.
Perhaps it is time to utilize 21’st Century technology to solve municipal, provincial and federal problems. Take municipal issues for example. Guelph is facing some very serious growth issues: housing, (affordability, density, shortages), water (supply, clean), transportation (congestion, active transit options) and other infrastructure issues along with the financial woes that can accompany urban development and growth.
We debate these issues and seek the advice and opinions of staff, elected officials and citizens, through council meetings, have-your-say initiatives and staff reports (expert opinions), but we have, up until this point, not consulted artificial intelligence.
Can we not now feed the pertinent data into a machine and allow algorithms to come up with the ideal answers to our problems: answers that are not cluttered with emotions but rooted in data?
Surely AI already knows how much fresh water is required to accommodate Guelph’s growth projections. AI can tell us exactly the sweet spot with regard to density and predict the level of objections and provide the workable solutions.
At the provincial level, AI can diagnose disease and provide medical care without concern for medical staffing shortages. In fact we are told that the jobs AI can now replace are not the rote tasks (bank tellers, gas station attendants, fast food jobs) but rather the skilled professional jobs (lawyers, politicians, doctors, computer programmers) Computers can now do anything humans can do, better and faster. AI can now program itself without the need for human participation. Computers don’t need to spend years studying or doing research. Computers can access and filter data from around the world instantaneously.
So what are we waiting for? Imagine a council meeting in which the obvious answers to our municipal issues are readily accessible. Housing shortages, affordability, density issues solved. Congestion and pollution issues fixed. Taxes, and budgets now affordable and balanced annually, every time, no error. What are we afraid of other than becoming redundant? As the combustion engine replaced the horse, now AI can replace people. You no longer have to consult your feelings or beliefs or opinions and no the result will not be some scary out-of-control sci-fi horror film. We’re already almost a quarter of the way through the 21’st Century but in many ways we’re still clinging on to out of date 20’th Century information processing, the human brain.
Jay WIlson
