At Philemonday Agency, we work in our AI & Project Lab on the mechanics of sharing between humans and robots.
The anecdote of Kyle K. M. Kabasares strikingly illustrates the radical transformations brought by AI in the field of scientific research. This young astronomy PhD student spent months developing complex programs to model the dynamics of gas in circumnuclear disks and thus measure black holes. His meticulously crafted code is publicly accessible on GitHub, a symbol of sharing scientific knowledge in the modern era. However, the story takes a surprising turn with the advent of the latest version of ChatGPT.
After testing several prompts, Kabasares discovered that the AI, with just a few lines of input, could reproduce the same result he had achieved after months of work. This moment of revelation, evident in his expression, shows how AI can accelerate research and modeling processes, while also raising questions about the very nature of intellectual work itself.
The phenomenon this anecdote illustrates is much broader. AI, by quickly absorbing and reproducing complex knowledge, raises profound questions about the role of humans in scientific creation. It democratizes access to knowledge, but also sparks concerns about the value and longevity of human expertise when AI can replicate results in mere moments.
Kyle Kabasares’ example shows that AI doesn’t just share knowledge—it can also replicate discoveries, profoundly altering our approach to scientific research. This is a fascinating, even unsettling dynamic, whose full impact we are only beginning to grasp.
Philemonday Agency, London, September 19, 2024
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Links to resources to learn more about "The anecdote of Kyle K. M. Kabasares":
https://github.com/kylekaba/alma_dynamicalmodeling/blob/main/dynamical.py
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/ac7a38/meta
https://youtu.be/M9YOO7N5jF8?si=6WHuE7YOpJ_r_j2B
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