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Black History Month Begins With Battle Over Diversity Education; A.I. Tool ChatGPT Passes U.S. Medical Licensing Exam; Driver Narrowly Escapes Fiery Crash on Las Vegas Strip. Aired 10:30- 11a ET

Aired February 02, 2023 - 10:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN ANCHOR: DeSantis has called these discriminatory and vows to keep universities from funding them regardless of where that money is coming from.

[10:30:08]

What is your reaction to this? And I know you were concerned specifically in terms of recruitment at colleges and the impact it may have on that.

STATE SEN. SHEVRIN JONES (D-FL): Absolutely. Thank you so much for having me. First I'll just point out that Florida is hailed as one of the state's top -- the state's and the country's highest higher education systems in the country. This has not happened because the institutions are practicing this ideological conformity that the governor is saying.

Colleges is where you go to explore your thinking, and the professionals challenge you to think outside of the box, but this casting of this large net to dissolve DEI programs on college campuses and couching it as critical race theory, one, goes to show you that the governor does not know anything about critical race theory, and this is the very reason we need to have DEI on our campuses and all across the state of Florida and even within our companies. Florida is the second largest public university system in a nation with over 450,000 students. And this melting pot of students warrants DEI to be on our college campuses.

GOLODRYGA: How do you think this will impact recruitment, though, specifically?

JONES: Absolutely. Well, it is going to impact recruitment more from a tenure (ph) perspective and also because of the culture wars that we're seeing this happening in Florida. This is not the first year that we're seeing this. As a higher education professional myself, individuals had already started saying that their rescinding their applications from coming into Florida. They have already made it clear that they don't want to teach in Florida or send your students here to Florida. So, it is going to alter recruitment.

I know the governor just put his budget yesterday, $115 million, as he has already just dissolved new college and their board and fired the president, and now they have to put money behind to recruit teachers and recruit students. That is not going to solve the problem. People come to the state of Florida for more than just the beaches and more than just our good weather. They come here for our education system also.

GOLODRYGA: We know that while these may be banned in Florida, these programs will be mandated, DEI specifically, these programs will be mandated in states like New York and Massachusetts. Is that reassuring for you or are you concerned that that may help move some Floridians and students there that were thinking about to school in that state or perhaps to work in that state think about moving elsewhere?

JONES: Absolutely. I mean, you are definitely going to see this great migration of the individuals who will leave the state of Florida. Teachers have already made it clear that they are not returning to teach next year from our colleges and also within our K-12 system.

It is more than just talking about the equity and equality in the workplaces or on our college campus. Some of the DEI programs have important implications, and like ensuring that universities are following the American with disability accommodations their campuses. So, domino effect of this is far greater than the politics being played right now.

GOLODRYGA: And, Shevrin, of course, this comes one day after the College Board yesterday unveiled its official framework for the A.P. African-American studies courses. This has become quite a divisive issue. I am curious to get your thoughts on this new framework.

JONES: Bianna, this is a monumental moment for education as we are going to recognize the incredible contributions of African-Americans considering that this is day two of black history month. The fact that we are now having this discussion in one hand, we want to celebrate African-American history, and on the other hand, we have to fight to legitimize ourselves in this state that says that our history brings no education value.

But mind you, this is open course that students who have happily signed up for, as they have told us last year. But because of the political gains that are being paid, the African-American community, once again, are now the political punching bag here within the state of Florida, which is unfortunate.

GOLODRYGA: Yes. The College Board said that there was no political pressure involved with this new framework. But, obviously, it comes just weeks after Governor DeSantis banned it from being taught in state schools. Shevrin Jones, thank you so much for your time. We greatly appreciate it.

JONES: Thank you for having me. Thank you.

GOLODRYGA: Well, if you have heard of ChatGPT, you know about its A.I. chat bot. But could you also call it a medical expert? What researchers say happened when they the program take a prestigious medical license exam. We will tell you straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [10:35:00]

GOLODRYGA: Well, at this point, I'm sure you have heard of ChatGPT. It is an A.I. chat bot tool that can write everything from research papers to songs, well it has now passed the U.S. medical licensing exam. Yes, that's right. It is just the latest alarming achievement from the artificial intelligence tool.

Previously, ChatGPT had passed law schools exams and a test at UPenn's Wharton Business school, pretty impressive.

CNN's Jacqueline Howard joins us now with more. So, Jacqueline, is it answer to these sophisticated medical questions, that is one thing, but how accurate is it really?

JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: Well, it is surprising, Bianna, but ChatGPT got answers right more than half of the time on tests that we typically use in the U.S. medical licensing exam.

So, here is what this study showed. The chat bot answered questions, according to researchers, with greater than 50 percent accuracy across three tests that are used in the licensing exam.

[10:40:09]

And they said that in most cases, it exceeds that. It got more than 60 percent accuracy, and that 60 percent is what they use to measure whether it passed the exam. So, since it got 60 percent most of the time, they say it passed or nearly passed the U.S. medical licensing exam.

Now, does this mean that ChatGPT will be our doctors in the future? Probably not. Instead, researchers say this shows that it could be used as a reliable tool when it comes to making medical decisions, diagnoses, treatment plans or translating medical jargon for patients to understand. So, Bianna, that is more of the role we see this playing here.

GOLODRYGA: So, No Dr. Chat or Dr. GPT in the future?

But also it's worth nothing that it does not feel empathy, like human doctors, and also we have heard a lot about medicine becoming more personalized in the future. So, I guess, to your point, it would play -- it could play a specific role, but it would not take the role of a doctor.

HOWARD: Right. It could be used as a tool. Because while it can make an accurate diagnosis, it cannot break down how it got there, how it made that decision. So, that's why we are seeing this used more so in research as a tool for translating medical jargon, for writing study reports, for possibly drafting pamphlets for patients, Bianna. So, maybe that is what we will see in the future.

GOLODRYGA: So, after going to school for years on end, we can reassure doctors that they are still needed for years to come. Jacqueline Howard, thank you. Well, as ChatGPT grows its resume, it could very well come after your job. Experts say, at the very least, artificial intelligence could dramatically change day-to-day operations.

CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich spoke with experts about what industries are already feeling the impact on.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Which jobs is A.I. coming after first?

SHELLY PALMER, PROFESSOR OF ADVANCED MEDIA, SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY: If you're a middle manager, you're doomed. Any kind of commodity sales person, report writers and journalists, accountants and bookkeepers and oddly enough doctors who are looking -- who specialize on things like drug interactions.

YURKEVICH: Do you mean out of the job or you mean that part of your job?

PALMER: That part.

YURKEVICH (voice over): That is the relief a lot of Americans are looking for right now. The explosion of ChatGPT and A.I. platform showed us it could do a lot of what we humans do at work, and faster.

Will it take my job?

PALMER: Yes and no. It is not going to replace you. Someone who knows how to use it well is going to take your job, and that is a guarantee.

YURKEVICH: By 2025, the World Economic Forum predicts that 85 million jobs will be displaced by automation and technology, but it will also 97 million new roles. We have seen it before in the auto industry.

PALMER: While the auto worker may be displaced because they are not as good at welding or as painting as the robot, there are probably 35 people that have to be involved in the creation and maintenance of that device that welds better than a person.

YURKEVICH: And that is what happened at Carbon Robotics. Former auto workers now building an A.I. laser weeder in Detroit for farms.

PAUL MIKESELL, FOUNDER AND CEO, CARBON ROBOTICS: It is a direct result of the history auto manufacturing that we have that skill set available to us all in one place.

YURKEVICH: The laser weeder still operated by a human but run by A.I. can do the work of between 40 to 80 people, says the CEO, filling roles that are hard to find humans for.

MIKESELL: Labor is harder and harder to find every year, particular farm labor, and an A.I. system like ours, it can do that job automatically. It saves a lot of time, money, effort. YURKEVICH: This music is composed solely by artificial intelligence called AVA. It even has an album you can stream. A.I. music is more affordable. There is no produce, composer or artist to pay.

KARL FOWLKES, ENTERTAINMENT AND BUSINESS ATTORNEY, THE FOWLKES FIRM: It is taking away opportunity from songwriters, producers and artists, right, so, the people who are trying to feed their families.

YURKEVICH: Something similar is happening in the art world, leading Artist Cara Ortiz and two others to file a class action lawsuit against three A.I. art companies for copyright infringement. Ortiz claims they are using her name and art to train the A.I.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is feast and famine for most of us. We go job by job. And what happens when there is a little bit less work to go around?

YURKEVICH: Stability A.I., one of the companies named, says the student misunderstands how A.I. and copyright law work, adding, it intends to, quote, defend ourselves and the vast potential generative A.I. has to expand the creative power of humanity. The other two companies did not respond.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'd never thought we'd be here. It is like straight out of a sci-fi movie.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My father tried to teach me human emotions.

PALMER: There's a wonderful in the movie, I, Robot.

[10:45:01]

Detective Spooner hates robots, and he says --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can a robot write a symphony? Can a robot turn a canvas into a beautiful masterpiece?

PALMER: And the robot looks up and he goes --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you?

PALMER: Everyone of us is not Mozart or Rembrandt or Picasso or choose your super famous, amazing artist or artisan, which is people. This is not coming to kill us. It is coming to help us.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

YURKEVICH (on camera): Spoiler alert, if you have not seen I, Robot, what ends up happening is that the artificial intelligence robots end up working with humans to save humanity. And that is actually what A.I. experts think is going to happen in the future, that we'll be working together with artificial intelligence.

And since I gave you the top five jobs that A.I. will take first, here are the top five jobs that A.I. will take last, preschool elementary teacher, professional athlete, politician, judge and mental health professional, because these are all jobs that actually need human nature. They need emotion. A preschool teacher is going to want to hug her preschooler at the end of the day. A judge needs judgment and a politician, well, maybe they just need unique qualities, let's all leave it at that for the politicians.

GOLODRYGA: Maybe we could use some robots in Washington these days to get things done. I have to say, though, your face when he said that journalists could be affected -- I mean, I think both of our faces. But, rest assured, bosses were important. These are just aids, right?

YURKEVICH: Just tools, just helpful to make us better at our jobs.

GOLODRYGA: Yes. We need to keep these jobs. We are good at them.

YURKEVICH: We do.

GOLODRYGA: Vanessa, thank you.

YURKEVICH: Thank you.

GOLODRYGA: Well, up next, a dramatic rescue caught on camera. How a tourist helped police pull someone from a car with just seconds to spare.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come here. Come on. Come on.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Drag him. Drag him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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[10:50:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come here. Drag him. Drag him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: Wow, my goodness. A terrifying rescue in Las Vegas as police release this video showing an officer and bystander pulling an unresponsive man from a car just at it bursts into flames. The bystander says he and his wife saw the BMW crash into a tree, so he jumped into action before help arrived. The officer was treated for smoke inhalation. The driver who now faces DUI charges was hospitalized and is expected to make a full recovery.

Well, the opioid epidemic is taking a deadly toll across the U.S. The CDC says that in 2021, there were more than 100,000 drug overdose deaths and more than 75 percent of those involved opioids.

The new CNN film, American Pain, takes us inside the crisis, revealing the rise and fall of the identical twin brothers who ran one of the largest opioid pill mill, the empires in the country. Here's a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The George brothers did not start the opioid crisis but they sure as hell poured gasoline on the fire. They became the largest street level distribution group operating in the entire United States. Nobody put more pills on the streets than they did, nobody. They created a blueprint for how this is to be done, and they were operating in broad daylight.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The scale of this enterprise, I mean, it was enormous.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You had addicts streaming in from all over the country thousands of miles just to come to Florida to get drugs.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When you see what is going on inside that clinic, your jaw just falls to the floor.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get your pills in the parking lot to shoot up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have been on the job as a special agent for over 20 years. I've seen a lot of crazy, but this was just bat (BLEEP) crazy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GOLODRYGA: Well, joining me now is CNN's Chief Law Enforcement and Intelligence Analyst John Miller. Wow, that is quite a trailer, a must-watch film. The George brothers operated in Florida, but this had an impact nationwide on the opioid crisis. How?

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: I mean, the George brothers cornered the market on opioid addiction in Florida. But because they were dealing in volume, most of their customers were coming from out of state. They were coming from the entire southwest to Florida because this was a no questions asked, all you can eat pill mill.

GOLODRYGA: And what role did the drug cartel ultimately play in this business cycle as well?

MILLER: Well, the George brothers basically set up the business model that once the big pill mills were shutdown, the cartel stepped in and said, what's the void we have to feel? People want opioids, Oxycodone, okay. We will make a counterfeit blue pill, it won't be real Oxy, it will be filled with fentanyl, and we'll fill that void, and they've been doing it ever since.

What the George brothers did was interesting, though, because they figured out the need and then they figured out what were the legal requirements. You need a doctor to write a prescription. You need that doctor to have a basis for that prescription, so an MRI. You need a lot of things to meet with regulators. So, they basically took all the legal steps as a cover for a vast illegal enterprise.

I was working in the FBI at the time this case was put together.

[10:55:00]

And what they brought was a RICO case, which is a racketeering enterprise. So, they basically said that this chain of pill mills, $40 million they made, millions of pills they put out, 66,000 prescriptions for multiple pills at one location alone in a short period. So, they had really figured out the volume of it.

And one of the great things about this documentary is you will hear all of the wiretaps, you will see all of the text messages, and you are kind of living behind the scenes.

GOLODRYGA: And, obviously, the pill mill can be shutdown, but the implications here are huge, and a huge challenge for law enforcement and the medical community as well.

MILLER: Tremendous.

GOLODRYGA: John Miller, thank you. Great to see you.

And the all-new CNN film, American Pain, premieres Sunday at 9:00 P.M. Eastern and Pacific only here on CNN.

And that is it for us today. Thank you so much for joining us. I'm Bianna Golodryga.

At This Hour with Kate Bolduan starts after a quick break.

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