Features
Artificial intelligence: A product of human intelligence par excellence
By Prof. Kirthi Tennakone
What is intelligence? A precise, universally accepted definition does not exist. The Oxford Dictionary defines intelligence as the ability to learn, understand and think logically. Psychologists say it is the capacity for rational thinking, understanding the environment and adaptation to changing occurrences. There are hundreds of other definitions and descriptions of intelligence, highlighting different aspects of the complex trait and bearing many other human qualities.
Intelligence facilitates the acquisition of knowledge, providing learning skills and symbiotically enriches creativity and imagination. A famous quote by Albert Einstein says, “The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination.”
Intelligence leads to wisdom, logical argument and clarity of expression. It benefits the individual and society but differs from craftiness, which only provides a temporary undue advantage to a person or a group. So many other qualities of people owe much to their intelligence and vice versa.
How we acquired intelligence
Plants and animals are the most advanced forms of life on earth. Plants manufacture food and their structural material out of air, water and minerals, harvesting sunlight and stand sessile. Whereas the animals move and nourish themselves on plants. Mobility freed life (animals) to encounter the pros and cons of the environment, necessitating the development of organs to sense external stimuli, such as sound, light, touch, smell and taste. The result was the evolution of the nervous signaling system and the brain to coordinate different sensory responses and derive information. The process took billions of years and culminated in ‘inventing’ the human brain by the method of natural selection.
The brain evolved primarily for adaptation to the environment. Later, neural morphology and cognitive functions expanded dramatically, permitting linguistic communication and mechanical skills. Evolution favoured the selection of brainy against less brainy! Besides the routine tasks of eating and living, the man contemplated.
Incidentally, the feelings coming to the mind of an early human sitting on a hillock and seeing the scenery in front were routine matters such as gathering food and chasing animals living there. When cognitive abilities furthered, a man, in the same mood, admired the beauty of the scenery. The ‘beauty’, a more abstract concept, was beyond recognition by the earliest humans. Similarly, engraving a picture of an animal, on stone, indicates abstract insight. The men, who first did it, were the most ancient Isaac Newtons and Einsteins. Such abstractions, or realization of ideas, other than material things, or events, surfaced 50,000 to 100,000 years ago, when evolutionary pressure selected an advantageous group of humans with new connections between different parts of the brain. Art, literature, mathematics, science and technology – the key areas of learning so influential in transforming society – originated as a result of abstract thinking.
Artificial Intelligence
The human brain shines above everything else as the supreme outcome of billions of years of biological evolution. No one has yet found a priori reason we cannot invent machines as intelligent as ourselves or superior. The unanswerable question is how long it takes to reach this ultimate feat and whether efforts would eventually lead to a super-civilization or apocalypse. Or because of unavoidable interventions, the civilization doesn’t have enough time to reach that level of advancement.
Currently, there is so much hype and promise in developing artificial intelligence (AI) – the design of computer systems and machines emulating human intelligent behaviour to find solutions to problems via analysis and interpretation of data. A vast quantity of knowledge and information, gathered by centuries of human effort, is available in literature and a significant portion inserted into the web. The neural network algorithms developed by AI gather information pertaining to a question, organize them and present an answer exceedingly fast.
If not excessively indulged, intelligent machines tuned to attend specialized tasks favoirably remodel our future, easing and fastening a host of activities and new discoveries. We already have AI-powered gadgets and software packages on the market. Self-driving cars, smart vacuum cleaners, robotic crop harvesters, surgical robots and language translators, virtual assistants and chatbots; items of the first and second category.
The AI system ChatGPT, recently released by the American Research Laboratory, OpenAI, virtually engages in conversation, or writes an essay, on a topic of choice, within minutes. It points to amazing potential and repercussions of AI advancement.
Are we to give up writing essays and instead get them ‘instantly’ from a chatbot? AI-produced essays are informative but not sufficiently original, creative or imaginative. Sometimes extraneous materials enter the text. The crucially important component of a good essay; creativeness and imaginative remarks would not come from present day AI, which harvests material from available knowledge (written, printed and electronically published). As Albert Einstein said in another quote, “Imagination is more important than knowledge”. To meet the challenge of AI, authors should improve the quality of their writing accordingly – be creative and imaginative in your outlook.
The ChatGPT, and other similar versions, on overall, will impact education positively, because they possess a remarkable facility to extract and interpret data in massive files. However, the problem of students using AI-based software to write essays needs to be addressed. Writing essays and solving mathematical problems sharpen the mind irreversibly. Phrasing an essay is both a pleasure as well as pain every student should experience. Good essays cannot be written in minutes or hours; they require revisions and corrections before finishing. Parents and teachers need to tell children the value of writing essays on their own. Educationists should devise alternative methods of assigning and grading essay questions.
Future of AI and the future of a world with AI
AI progresses exponentially, signaling the world to be prepared for its accommodation and withstand flabbergast. A question raising eyebrows would be how AI technology advances in coming years and decades and its impact on society and eventually civilization.
More and more AI apps and gadgets will emerge, facilitating domestic and commercial activities. The existing information caries hidden clues for new discoveries, which AI can quickly unearth for urgent application. Recently, a Canadian team pinpointed how to design a drug to cure a rare form of cancer, after just 30 days of engagement – a project that normally takes several years.
The advocates of AI strive hard to create intelligent machines getting closer and closer to human intelligence. A difficult question has been how to determine whether a machine is as intelligent as a human. The future of AI relies on understanding this problem.
In 1950, the British mathematician and theoretical biologist Alan Turing argued, a machine performs human-like intelligent behaviour, if its answers to questions could not be distinguished from those provided by a human being. The Turing test focuses on competence in language expression, just one aspect of intelligence. Few AI companies claim that their products (chatbots) have passed the Turing test. However, passing the test does not prove a chatbot or any other AI device exhibits human-like intelligence. Humans perform a multitude of intelligent tasks. They think and are self-aware and conscious-three characters of the cognitive function.
Thinking: concentration or focus on a specific subject.
Consciousness: being aware of the environment and happenings in relation to the past, present and future and the readiness for reacting to external and internal (bodily) responses.
Self-awareness: the feeling that you exist as an individual.
The mind is an abstract entity covering all the above qualities – a non-material attribute of the brain.
Several pertinent philosophical questions arise: can an AI app with intelligence, thinking capacity, consciousness and self-awareness exist independently – a mind without a body (an intelligent phantom)? Can such a phantom instruct humans to do experiments and expand knowledge? Or is it necessary to have a physical body to attain human – like intelligence?
Remarkably, Buddhist literature delved deeply into the concept ‘mind – body relationship’, hinting at fundamental problems in AI and psychology.
According to the Anatta – lakkana Sutra, Buddha was of the view that ‘the self’ is an aggregate of mind and body, implicating the inseparability of body and mind. Perhaps because of the influence of Hinduism, Theravada Buddhism makes references to “planes of existence”, where the mind exists without the body (Arupa Brahma Loka). A verse in ‘Lowada Sagarawa’ says there are four planes of existence where mind exists without a body. AI seems to be slowly approaching sophistication to embrace clever speculations originated over 2000 years ago.
If the body remains inseparable from the mind, inventing intelligent machines encompassing all the peculiarities of humans would be more like creating complex artificial life. If such entities learn to reproduce, they may compete humans!
Societal problems originating from AI
Just like previous transformative technologies, the introduction of AI will lead to initial drawbacks. The world needs to be cautious of the adverse outcomes and direct research and development to reap benefits. The speedy processing of data will ease industries and their management. New products and techniques in crucially important sectors health, agriculture, energy and environmental remediation, expected to emerge from the AI effort will escalate the quality of life. However, when automation takes over industry and management and robots do routine work more efficiently, a good percentage of the population will find harder to gain employment. Are they going to idle and live on the charity of the wealth the countries earn from their AI projects? Wouldn’t social and economic disparities widen as a result? Some economists complain, exacerbating inequality is a danger of AI. Therefore, instead of going for excessive automation, the technology should divert attention to deliver beneficial products and processes.
Artificial intelligence, a product of human natural intelligence, will be a bonus if directed by wisdom. Very unlikely that it will ever overtake the supremacy of human creativity and imagination.
A highly valued character of an individual often envied is his or her imaginative and creative aptness – which AI cannot deprive.
(The author can be reached via email: ktenna@yahoo.co.uk)
by Dr Gotabhya Ranasinghe
Senior Consultant Cardiologist
National Hospital Sri Lanka
When we sought a meeting with Hon Dr. Ramesh Pathirana, Minister of Health, he graciously cleared his busy schedule to accommodate us. Renowned for his attentive listening and deep understanding, Minister Pathirana is dedicated to advancing the health sector. His openness and transparency exemplify the qualities of an exemplary politician and minister.
Dr. Palitha Mahipala, the current Health Secretary, demonstrates both commendable enthusiasm and unwavering support. This combination of attributes makes him a highly compatible colleague for the esteemed Minister of Health.
Our discussion centered on a project that has been in the works for the past 30 years, one that no other minister had managed to advance.
Minister Pathirana, however, recognized the project’s significance and its potential to revolutionize care for heart patients.
The project involves the construction of a state-of-the-art facility at the premises of the National Hospital Colombo. The project’s location within the premises of the National Hospital underscores its importance and relevance to the healthcare infrastructure of the nation.
This facility will include a cardiology building and a tertiary care center, equipped with the latest technology to handle and treat all types of heart-related conditions and surgeries.
Securing funding was a major milestone for this initiative. Minister Pathirana successfully obtained approval for a $40 billion loan from the Asian Development Bank. With the funding in place, the foundation stone is scheduled to be laid in September this year, and construction will begin in January 2025.
This project guarantees a consistent and uninterrupted supply of stents and related medications for heart patients. As a result, patients will have timely access to essential medical supplies during their treatment and recovery. By securing these critical resources, the project aims to enhance patient outcomes, minimize treatment delays, and maintain the highest standards of cardiac care.
Upon its fruition, this monumental building will serve as a beacon of hope and healing, symbolizing the unwavering dedication to improving patient outcomes and fostering a healthier society.We anticipate a future marked by significant progress and positive outcomes in Sri Lanka’s cardiovascular treatment landscape within the foreseeable timeframe.
by Fr. Emmanuel Fernando, OMI
Jesuit Fr. Aloysius Pieris (affectionately called Fr. Aloy) celebrated his 90th birthday on April 9, 2024 and I, as the editor of our Oblate Journal, THE MISSIONARY OBLATE had gone to press by that time. Immediately I decided to publish an article, appreciating the untiring selfless services he continues to offer for inter-Faith dialogue, the renewal of the Catholic Church, his concern for the poor and the suffering Sri Lankan masses and to me, the present writer.
It was in 1988, when I was appointed Director of the Oblate Scholastics at Ampitiya by the then Oblate Provincial Fr. Anselm Silva, that I came to know Fr. Aloy more closely. Knowing well his expertise in matters spiritual, theological, Indological and pastoral, and with the collaborative spirit of my companion-formators, our Oblate Scholastics were sent to Tulana, the Research and Encounter Centre, Kelaniya, of which he is the Founder-Director, for ‘exposure-programmes’ on matters spiritual, biblical, theological and pastoral. Some of these dimensions according to my view and that of my companion-formators, were not available at the National Seminary, Ampitiya.
Ever since that time, our Oblate formators/ accompaniers at the Oblate Scholasticate, Ampitiya , have continued to send our Oblate Scholastics to Tulana Centre for deepening their insights and convictions regarding matters needed to serve the people in today’s context. Fr. Aloy also had tried very enthusiastically with the Oblate team headed by Frs. Oswald Firth and Clement Waidyasekara to begin a Theologate, directed by the Religious Congregations in Sri Lanka, for the contextual formation/ accompaniment of their members. It should very well be a desired goal of the Leaders / Provincials of the Religious Congregations.
Besides being a formator/accompanier at the Oblate Scholasticate, I was entrusted also with the task of editing and publishing our Oblate journal, ‘The Missionary Oblate’. To maintain the quality of the journal I continue to depend on Fr. Aloy for his thought-provoking and stimulating articles on Biblical Spirituality, Biblical Theology and Ecclesiology. I am very grateful to him for his generous assistance. Of late, his writings on renewal of the Church, initiated by Pope St. John XX111 and continued by Pope Francis through the Synodal path, published in our Oblate journal, enable our readers to focus their attention also on the needed renewal in the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka. Fr. Aloy appreciated very much the Synodal path adopted by the Jesuit Pope Francis for the renewal of the Church, rooted very much on prayerful discernment. In my Religious and presbyteral life, Fr.Aloy continues to be my spiritual animator / guide and ongoing formator / acccompanier.
Fr. Aloysius Pieris, BA Hons (Lond), LPh (SHC, India), STL (PFT, Naples), PhD (SLU/VC), ThD (Tilburg), D.Ltt (KU), has been one of the eminent Asian theologians well recognized internationally and one who has lectured and held visiting chairs in many universities both in the West and in the East. Many members of Religious Congregations from Asian countries have benefited from his lectures and guidance in the East Asian Pastoral Institute (EAPI) in Manila, Philippines. He had been a Theologian consulted by the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences for many years. During his professorship at the Gregorian University in Rome, he was called to be a member of a special group of advisers on other religions consulted by Pope Paul VI.
Fr. Aloy is the author of more than 30 books and well over 500 Research Papers. Some of his books and articles have been translated and published in several countries. Among those books, one can find the following: 1) The Genesis of an Asian Theology of Liberation (An Autobiographical Excursus on the Art of Theologising in Asia, 2) An Asian Theology of Liberation, 3) Providential Timeliness of Vatican 11 (a long-overdue halt to a scandalous millennium, 4) Give Vatican 11 a chance, 5) Leadership in the Church, 6) Relishing our faith in working for justice (Themes for study and discussion), 7) A Message meant mainly, not exclusively for Jesuits (Background information necessary for helping Francis renew the Church), 8) Lent in Lanka (Reflections and Resolutions, 9) Love meets wisdom (A Christian Experience of Buddhism, 10) Fire and Water 11) God’s Reign for God’s poor, 12) Our Unhiddden Agenda (How we Jesuits work, pray and form our men). He is also the Editor of two journals, Vagdevi, Journal of Religious Reflection and Dialogue, New Series.
Fr. Aloy has a BA in Pali and Sanskrit from the University of London and a Ph.D in Buddhist Philosophy from the University of Sri Lankan, Vidyodaya Campus. On Nov. 23, 2019, he was awarded the prestigious honorary Doctorate of Literature (D.Litt) by the Chancellor of the University of Kelaniya, the Most Venerable Welamitiyawe Dharmakirthi Sri Kusala Dhamma Thera.
Fr. Aloy continues to be a promoter of Gospel values and virtues. Justice as a constitutive dimension of love and social concern for the downtrodden masses are very much noted in his life and work. He had very much appreciated the commitment of the late Fr. Joseph (Joe) Fernando, the National Director of the Social and Economic Centre (SEDEC) for the poor.
In Sri Lanka, a few religious Congregations – the Good Shepherd Sisters, the Christian Brothers, the Marist Brothers and the Oblates – have invited him to animate their members especially during their Provincial Congresses, Chapters and International Conferences. The mainline Christian Churches also have sought his advice and followed his seminars. I, for one, regret very much, that the Sri Lankan authorities of the Catholic Church –today’s Hierarchy—- have not sought Fr.
Aloy’s expertise for the renewal of the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka and thus have not benefited from the immense store of wisdom and insight that he can offer to our local Church while the Sri Lankan bishops who governed the Catholic church in the immediate aftermath of the Second Vatican Council (Edmund Fernando OMI, Anthony de Saram, Leo Nanayakkara OSB, Frank Marcus Fernando, Paul Perera,) visited him and consulted him on many matters. Among the Tamil Bishops, Bishop Rayappu Joseph was keeping close contact with him and Bishop J. Deogupillai hosted him and his team visiting him after the horrible Black July massacre of Tamils.
Sri Lanka-Singapore Free Trade Agreement
By Gomi Senadhira
senadhiragomi@gmail.com
“You might tell fairy tales, but the progress of a country cannot be achieved through such narratives. A country cannot be developed by making false promises. The country moved backward because of the electoral promises made by political parties throughout time. We have witnessed that the ultimate result of this is the country becoming bankrupt. Unfortunately, many segments of the population have not come to realize this yet.” – President Ranil Wickremesinghe, 2024 Budget speech
Any Sri Lankan would agree with the above words of President Wickremesinghe on the false promises our politicians and officials make and the fairy tales they narrate which bankrupted this country. So, to understand this, let’s look at one such fairy tale with lots of false promises; Ranil Wickremesinghe’s greatest achievement in the area of international trade and investment promotion during the Yahapalana period, Sri Lanka-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (SLSFTA).
It is appropriate and timely to do it now as Finance Minister Wickremesinghe has just presented to parliament a bill on the National Policy on Economic Transformation which includes the establishment of an Office for International Trade and the Sri Lanka Institute of Economics and International Trade.
Was SLSFTA a “Cleverly negotiated Free Trade Agreement” as stated by the (former) Minister of Development Strategies and International Trade Malik Samarawickrama during the Parliamentary Debate on the SLSFTA in July 2018, or a colossal blunder covered up with lies, false promises, and fairy tales? After SLSFTA was signed there were a number of fairy tales published on this agreement by the Ministry of Development Strategies and International, Institute of Policy Studies, and others.
However, for this article, I would like to limit my comments to the speech by Minister Samarawickrama during the Parliamentary Debate, and the two most important areas in the agreement which were covered up with lies, fairy tales, and false promises, namely: revenue loss for Sri Lanka and Investment from Singapore. On the other important area, “Waste products dumping” I do not want to comment here as I have written extensively on the issue.
1. The revenue loss
During the Parliamentary Debate in July 2018, Minister Samarawickrama stated “…. let me reiterate that this FTA with Singapore has been very cleverly negotiated by us…. The liberalisation programme under this FTA has been carefully designed to have the least impact on domestic industry and revenue collection. We have included all revenue sensitive items in the negative list of items which will not be subject to removal of tariff. Therefore, 97.8% revenue from Customs duty is protected. Our tariff liberalisation will take place over a period of 12-15 years! In fact, the revenue earned through tariffs on goods imported from Singapore last year was Rs. 35 billion.
The revenue loss for over the next 15 years due to the FTA is only Rs. 733 million– which when annualised, on average, is just Rs. 51 million. That is just 0.14% per year! So anyone who claims the Singapore FTA causes revenue loss to the Government cannot do basic arithmetic! Mr. Speaker, in conclusion, I call on my fellow members of this House – don’t mislead the public with baseless criticism that is not grounded in facts. Don’t look at petty politics and use these issues for your own political survival.”
I was surprised to read the minister’s speech because an article published in January 2018 in “The Straits Times“, based on information released by the Singaporean Negotiators stated, “…. With the FTA, tariff savings for Singapore exports are estimated to hit $10 million annually“.
As the annual tariff savings (that is the revenue loss for Sri Lanka) calculated by the Singaporean Negotiators, Singaporean $ 10 million (Sri Lankan rupees 1,200 million in 2018) was way above the rupees’ 733 million revenue loss for 15 years estimated by the Sri Lankan negotiators, it was clear to any observer that one of the parties to the agreement had not done the basic arithmetic!
Six years later, according to a report published by “The Morning” newspaper, speaking at the Committee on Public Finance (COPF) on 7th May 2024, Mr Samarawickrama’s chief trade negotiator K.J. Weerasinghehad had admitted “…. that forecasted revenue loss for the Government of Sri Lanka through the Singapore FTA is Rs. 450 million in 2023 and Rs. 1.3 billion in 2024.”
If these numbers are correct, as tariff liberalisation under the SLSFTA has just started, we will pass Rs 2 billion very soon. Then, the question is how Sri Lanka’s trade negotiators made such a colossal blunder. Didn’t they do their basic arithmetic? If they didn’t know how to do basic arithmetic they should have at least done their basic readings. For example, the headline of the article published in The Straits Times in January 2018 was “Singapore, Sri Lanka sign FTA, annual savings of $10m expected”.
Anyway, as Sri Lanka’s chief negotiator reiterated at the COPF meeting that “…. since 99% of the tariffs in Singapore have zero rates of duty, Sri Lanka has agreed on 80% tariff liberalisation over a period of 15 years while expecting Singapore investments to address the imbalance in trade,” let’s turn towards investment.
Investment from Singapore
In July 2018, speaking during the Parliamentary Debate on the FTA this is what Minister Malik Samarawickrama stated on investment from Singapore, “Already, thanks to this FTA, in just the past two-and-a-half months since the agreement came into effect we have received a proposal from Singapore for investment amounting to $ 14.8 billion in an oil refinery for export of petroleum products. In addition, we have proposals for a steel manufacturing plant for exports ($ 1 billion investment), flour milling plant ($ 50 million), sugar refinery ($ 200 million). This adds up to more than $ 16.05 billion in the pipeline on these projects alone.
And all of these projects will create thousands of more jobs for our people. In principle approval has already been granted by the BOI and the investors are awaiting the release of land the environmental approvals to commence the project.
I request the Opposition and those with vested interests to change their narrow-minded thinking and join us to develop our country. We must always look at what is best for the whole community, not just the few who may oppose. We owe it to our people to courageously take decisions that will change their lives for the better.”
According to the media report I quoted earlier, speaking at the Committee on Public Finance (COPF) Chief Negotiator Weerasinghe has admitted that Sri Lanka was not happy with overall Singapore investments that have come in the past few years in return for the trade liberalisation under the Singapore-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement. He has added that between 2021 and 2023 the total investment from Singapore had been around $162 million!
What happened to those projects worth $16 billion negotiated, thanks to the SLSFTA, in just the two-and-a-half months after the agreement came into effect and approved by the BOI? I do not know about the steel manufacturing plant for exports ($ 1 billion investment), flour milling plant ($ 50 million) and sugar refinery ($ 200 million).
However, story of the multibillion-dollar investment in the Petroleum Refinery unfolded in a manner that would qualify it as the best fairy tale with false promises presented by our politicians and the officials, prior to 2019 elections.
Though many Sri Lankans got to know, through the media which repeatedly highlighted a plethora of issues surrounding the project and the questionable credentials of the Singaporean investor, the construction work on the Mirrijiwela Oil Refinery along with the cement factory began on the24th of March 2019 with a bang and Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and his ministers along with the foreign and local dignitaries laid the foundation stones.
That was few months before the 2019 Presidential elections. Inaugurating the construction work Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said the projects will create thousands of job opportunities in the area and surrounding districts.
The oil refinery, which was to be built over 200 acres of land, with the capacity to refine 200,000 barrels of crude oil per day, was to generate US$7 billion of exports and create 1,500 direct and 3,000 indirect jobs. The construction of the refinery was to be completed in 44 months. Four years later, in August 2023 the Cabinet of Ministers approved the proposal presented by President Ranil Wickremesinghe to cancel the agreement with the investors of the refinery as the project has not been implemented! Can they explain to the country how much money was wasted to produce that fairy tale?
It is obvious that the President, ministers, and officials had made huge blunders and had deliberately misled the public and the parliament on the revenue loss and potential investment from SLSFTA with fairy tales and false promises.
As the president himself said, a country cannot be developed by making false promises or with fairy tales and these false promises and fairy tales had bankrupted the country. “Unfortunately, many segments of the population have not come to realize this yet”.
(The writer, a specialist and an activist on trade and development issues . )
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