With advancements in technology over recent years, Artificial Intelligence seems to be the phrase on the lips of the world at the moment. Businesses across the globe are using AI to instantly automate tasks that could normally take human hours or days to complete. But what risks and dangers could this shift towards Artificial Intelligence create?
One thing the human workforce relies upon is a clear and consistent sense of transparency. Who is responsible for this work? How did they arrive at their conclusions? Why was this decision made? However, once you start programming machines to do the thinking for you, that sense of transparency is lost somewhat. When people can’t understand how or why an AI bot made a decision, that’s when the trust starts to evaporate.
AI has the power to create content at the click of a button, content that looks and feels real even when it isn’t. Just look at the deepfake problems online at the moment. We must be able to quickly identify when something is AI-made, broadcasting that information for everyone to see. Otherwise, AI could become very dangerous, very quickly.
When you employ a human being, you do so with the faith that they will be able to tell when something is going wrong. With a machine, however, you lose that human oversight. A machine will do what it is programmed to do, and if there is an issue with that programming, you could experience a whole lot of problems later down the line.
When an AI machine is asked to choose between two options, it will often make that decision based on statistics and programmed logic. However, as the world becomes increasingly reliant on Artificial Intelligence, investment in ethical training packages must be prioritized. Ethics and morals are a huge part of day-to-day decision-making processes, and AI needs to be able to comprehend that. Unfortunately, this becomes even more complicated when you realize that every human being has their own individual set of morals. So, what do you program the AI with?
Once you lean on something too hard, it can be difficult to stand on your own two feet if that thing is taken away. If the world becomes so reliant on AI that we cannot exist without it, where does that leave us? A balance between humanity and machinery is definitely needed.
An artificial intelligence system is only as good as the person who has programmed it. If a system is not programmed effectively, it can actually increase certain levels of bias and discrimination. This is because a machine makes decisions purely on data and algorithms, rather than human morals and ethics. It is essential that all AI is trained with extensive and diverse data.
Every new job that you teach an AI bot to complete is another job taken away from a human being. This could have a negative impact on both the economy and society. Some believe that AI will eventually create more jobs than it takes away, but a lot of the world’s workforce will have to adapt and learn new skills to take advantage of that.
AI is still in the early stages of development, even if we have come a long way over the past 5-10 years. However, rapid pace can be the enemy of privacy when it comes to technology. AI not only has to be effective, but it also must be able to handle vast quantities of private data without creating any risk of security breaches. There need to be strict regulations in place to oversee this, as well as accountability for who would be responsible for any leaks.
As AI develops at a frightening pace, our legal framework must keep up. Otherwise, we will be left with a relatively ungoverned and powerful technology running our economies. There must be the correct level of liability in place, as well as clear guidelines on intellectual property rights.
As technology advances year on year, so do the attacks carried out by cybercriminals. If businesses are using AI for ‘good’, then you can be sure that some hackers out there are starting to use it for ‘bad’. Not only do we have to develop AI to benefit society, but we also have to learn how to protect ourselves against AI attacks.
As businesses benefit from AI technology, which is essentially a cheaper and more efficient workforce, we must be careful that we don’t create even more of an economic imbalance. After all, the majority of the jobs that AI replaces will likely be low-skilled workers. This would widen the income gap and damage the possibility of social mobility.
AI is a world-changing concept. One worry is that a single country, or a small group of countries, will emerge as the dominating market leaders in artificial intelligence. This level of concentrated power may be dangerous, allowing certain countries to use it for their own gain at the expense of others. Security, ethics, and diversity must be upheld by a wide range of people and countries.
There is also a distinct risk that countries will put so much effort into winning the ‘race’ towards AI that the development is not carried out in a safe, secure, and fair way. The world must work together to develop this tech over time, for the good of humanity, rather than using it as a weapon.
Working from home. Streaming services. Food delivery. Now AI technology. It is no secret that the world is a less social place than it was 50 years ago, and we have to be careful that we retain the valuable human connection. Once you lose that, you also lose a sense of morality, empathy, and enjoyment.
Far-fetched as it may seem, there is a serious question to be asked about creating machines that are more intelligent than the humans who created them…
