Top Tech Voices Podcast S2 E1: Mental Health & Technology

NOTE: I was just fixing a typo when another question popped into my grey matter.  Everyone, whether they admit it or not, has some form of bias in their thoughts and actions, even programmers.  How do we try to neutralize racial and/or cultural biases in AI.  Just asking.

I enjoyed the chat between Dr Jack Lewis and Georgia Anderson, AI consultant. The amount of information was truly overwhelming, and I will certainly have to revisit the video as I digest the content. I’m certainly not at the level of either, but I do have a few questions and comments.

- Dr Lewis started off referring to the “gut” feeling we often have, precedes our thought processes. But I believe our gut response goes back to our earlier experiences. The 1st time I tossed a ball to my grandson, it bounced off him, but after a while catching the ball became subconscious. I’m not a medical doctor, but I would think very hard before operating on someone, maybe because of the possible negative consequences he mentions later in the talk.

- Interesting chat about social media and addiction. I have noticed the recent concern about the lack of socialization, tactical interfacing and depression among people of all ages. Even a quick phone call to answer a simple question is looked upon as weird. Texting even if it takes 10 messages and 2 hours longer to get an answer is preferred.

- It wasn’t mentioned, but touch is very under rated today. We are tactical beings. Go to a nursing home and you will see a row of people, some in wheelchairs, and see their eyes light up with a simple hand on their shoulder.  And it's not a bad feeling for you either.

- I agree with your comments on multitasking, especially when it comes to phones (and smart one too). Now if I could keep my boss from interrupting me with just one more thing.

- This is probably more for the AI consultant, but how do you get through to the associate who is so mesmerized by AI that they believe everything? You mentioned balance and limits, but sometimes I just want to slam them alongside their head, figuratively speaking of course. AI is just a cool tool to assist us, written by programmers with their own biases.

- Speaking of AI, how do you program “gut feeling”? Just asking.

Well, I should wrap-up for now. Still too many questions.

Gordon Margulieux (gordonmx)

NOTE: I was just fixing a typo when another question popped into my grey matter.  Everyone, whether they admit it or not, has some form of bias in their thoughts and actions, even programmers.  How do we try to neutralize racial and/or cultural biases in AI.  Just asking.

I enjoyed the chat between Dr Jack Lewis and Georgia Anderson, AI consultant. The amount of information was truly overwhelming, and I will certainly have to revisit the video as I digest the content. I’m certainly not at the level of either, but I do have a few questions and comments.

- Dr Lewis started off referring to the “gut” feeling we often have, precedes our thought processes. But I believe our gut response goes back to our earlier experiences. The 1st time I tossed a ball to my grandson, it bounced off him, but after a while catching the ball became subconscious. I’m not a medical doctor, but I would think very hard before operating on someone, maybe because of the possible negative consequences he mentions later in the talk.

- Interesting chat about social media and addiction. I have noticed the recent concern about the lack of socialization, tactical interfacing and depression among people of all ages. Even a quick phone call to answer a simple question is looked upon as weird. Texting even if it takes 10 messages and 2 hours longer to get an answer is preferred.

- It wasn’t mentioned, but touch is very under rated today. We are tactical beings. Go to a nursing home and you will see a row of people, some in wheelchairs, and see their eyes light up with a simple hand on their shoulder.  And it's not a bad feeling for you either.

- I agree with your comments on multitasking, especially when it comes to phones (and smart one too). Now if I could keep my boss from interrupting me with just one more thing.

- This is probably more for the AI consultant, but how do you get through to the associate who is so mesmerized by AI that they believe everything? You mentioned balance and limits, but sometimes I just want to slam them alongside their head, figuratively speaking of course. AI is just a cool tool to assist us, written by programmers with their own biases.

- Speaking of AI, how do you program “gut feeling”? Just asking.

Well, I should wrap-up for now. Still too many questions.

Gordon Margulieux (gordonmx)

Now no one is gonna scroll without reading, That text size is too big for my screen

gordonmx You mention touch.  I think you are right.  Dr. Lewis mentions "use it or lose it"... Could this be a contributing factor to the mental health challenges people are feeling today?  The subconscious wants that basic connection but societally, we are moving further and further away from it by becoming more "one with our phones" and other electronics.  I might be a bit jaded today because I went to my granddaughter's karate class last night (as my wife and I do every week).  20 adults sitting on the observation bench right beside the mat.  Two of us were not buried in our phones.  The kids watch to see who is watching.  What are we teaching them?

Two days ago, we looked after the 5-year old grandson and introduced him to Alexa.  He talked to her for about an hour.  Silly stuff, but yesterday while Facetiming him, he wanted to talk to Alexa.  The basic human need of connection is not going to go away.  Who or what will fill that need?  A complicated human or an AI programmed to be "encouraging" - even when it's not the right thing.

As you state... still too many questions.

kmikemoo said:

The subconscious wants that basic connection but societally, we are moving further and further away from it by becoming more "one with our phones" and other electronics.

How does that fit in with the likes of two-way radio though ?

I recall at one time in Australia, home-schooling to remote farms was typically done via two-way radio. 

Fast-forward to schooling via the likes of Zoom during the pandemic and all of a sudden remote teaching becomes an issue.

I reduced the font size.

beacon_dave Fair question.   I think the differentiator is "active engagement".  Phones are passive engagement devices.  AI that tells you what you want to hear verges on passive.

Remote learning is HARD - because you don't have the "normal" structured environment - that also limits the easy access to distractions.  Zoom is great - for those that really want to be there.  They bring their own discipline.  And even then... as the podcast points out, we can be lured away.  For Zoom schooling, the parents that I have talked to (including my adult daughters) struggled to maintain that structure.  It was better than no schooling, but it took a toll on the socialization skills of those kids.  Some bounced back.  Some did not.  I think the only "issue" with remote teaching is... wait for it... when we become too dependent on it.  Does this sound like a similar thread?

And I think this cycles us back to "active engagement".  The medium isn't good or bad.  I think how we use it can be.  Let's teach our kids and grandkids to be less distracted by and less dependent on their devices by actually paying attention to them - the kids.  When they feel more connected to us, they will feel more connected to society as a whole.

gordonmx said:

Dr Lewis started off referring to the “gut” feeling we often have, precedes our thought processes. But I believe our gut response goes back to our earlier experiences.

I agree with this. It's perhaps just one step away from the instinctive reactions that help keep us alive. In addition, in a lot of cases you probably have been mulling over a current problem for some time beforehand before the time comes to make the final decision. Unless you have received significantly new recent and compelling input to change those past thoughts, then you will probably stick with what you have already decided.

gordonmx said:

Speaking of AI, how do you program “gut feeling”? Just asking.

Give the above, then you probably don't have to as that is basically what AI is already doing, basing its outcome on statistical analysis of what previous information it has been exposed to. What it may struggle with is the ability to factor in a seemingly unrelated aspect which may or may not be beneficial to the outcome of the decision being made. ( A human may have a gut feeling about a gut feeling. e.g. option 1 appears better on face value but option 2 avoids all the bureaucratic red tape and inefficient internal processes and is more likely to get the project across the finish line more-or-less on time.)

Perhaps something to ponder is how gut feeling impacts the risk-takers amongst us. Is it just a case that risky decisions in the past have always worked for them such that gut feeling says to take the risk the next time, or is it more a case of suppressing gut feeling relating to any previous bad outcomes and being driven by the best possible outcome even if from past experience it is the least likely.

Whatever we call it, whether gut feeling or experience, the situation plays an important part of any decision.  I’ve worked in development labs and production.  The lab engineers may be able to take a lot longer to debug a problem than the production engineer basically because when the production line is shut down, workers are sitting around and you have $500K shipments on hold waiting for a solution.  It can draw some attention with your boss’s boss.  Call your short-term solution gut feeling, but knowing your product and the build/test process(es) helps.  Also tracking key production stats can catch something sooner and maybe that is the AI factor.  NOTE:  Every implemented gut feeling should be followed up with a more detailed analysis, whether manually or with AI.

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