Alli Ajagbe
“The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race…it would take off on its own, and re-design itself at an ever-increasing rate. Humans, who are limited by slow biological evolution, couldn’t compete, and would be superseded.” - Stephen Hawking, in his interview with BBC.
Artificial Intelligence is undoubtedly one of the key technologies that defines the 21st century. Before throwing this two-word phrase around, having a general understanding of what Artificial Intelligence (AI) entails is important. To put it simply, AI is an attempt to emulate and simulate varied forms of human intelligence in machines. Human activities that require precision and judgement can be executed by their transformation to 1s and 0s by modern-day computers. Due to its widespread applications, AI is becoming significant across all sectors of human life, from economics to agriculture to education and production. However, popularity is not always a determinant of merits. AI also has potential risks, which, if not adequately mitigated, pose a tremendous threat to humanity. Should we fear the world we have created for ourselves through the inception of AI-based technologies? This article looks at the positive contributions of AI and then analyses some of the challenges it brings into our lives.
AI has brought about advancement across nearly all industries in recent times.Be it transportation, manufacturing, automobile, finance, or advertising, each of these industries rely heavily on AI for improving their functionalities. The universality of such advancementsmay be attributed to its ability to improve human performance through increasing efficiency and optimising workflow. For instance, due to the ability of AI-enabled machines, the time required for a lot of decision-making processes has been cut short by a significant amount. Hence, machinescan process large amounts of data in very short time intervals,much shorter than humans can possibly fathom.
With the advent of AI, repetitive and routine tasks can be left to the execution of a computer. This frees up time for humans to explore their creativity and help them lead a more fulfilling life. When people are able to devote time to their passions, irrespective of their work sectors, happiness levels are significantly enhanced.
In sectors like healthcare, activities prone to human errors have been greatly improved with AI-enabled technologies. In their published article,Maria Rosaria Taddeo, a senior research fellow and Luciano Floridi,a philosopher, at the Oxford Internet Institute, mention how artificial intelligence has helped in lowering the probability of diagnostic errors in breast cancer by 85%. According to another estimate by McKinsey and Company in 2013, big data could be the antidote to the falling success rates of research and development in the pharmaceutical industry. They predictedthat with big data-driven strategies, the healthcare sector could potentially save over $100 billion in value annually in just the United States alone. An implementation of a similar strategy in placesbeyond United States, as well as beyond the pharmaceutical industry, could save humanity a fortune.
The security sector has also been a great beneficiary of the perks that come with the birth of AI. From facial recognition systems to crime-prevention cameras with trouble detection functionalities, our devices, homes, schools as well as our streets can be made more secure with the help of AI. According to Taddeo and Floridi, AI has made it possible to generate accurate and effective results in identifying and neutralising cyberattacks in just a matter of hours. For perspective, it took over three months for the same task earlier.
In the banking and finance sectors, AI is being utilized to track fraudulent activities in financial transactions.It is being used by manufacturing industries to analyse trends to make better decisions for their supplies. The applications of AI in all sectors of the modern economy are limitless. A failure to properly adopt this new innovative technology would only mean a limitation to our intellectual evolution.
However, thinking only about the positive impact of AI on society would imply that we have addressed the topic from a narrow perspective. Of course, artificial intelligence has its shortcomings. These shortcomings, if not tackled properly, could pose a threat to humanity and the living ecosystem. With the tiniest of errors, even the most optimal algorithms could fail. Hence, when we leave decision-making processes to computers, we face a huge risk of compromising the security of humanity.
An example would be the case of the Correctional Offender Management Profiling for Alternative Sanctions (COMPAS); a legal system based on the enactment of artificial intelligence. This technology proved faulty as it consistently labelled African American or Hispanic men as “high-risk” compared to others. This has brought about the need for robust human ethical principles that will guide the innovations around AI.
The negative impact of AI has also been highlighted in the service sector. With the growing popularity of AI globally, as proposed by the results of surveys conducted by researchers, millions of jobs will be lost. According to Professors Carl Benedikt Frey and Michael Osborne from the University of Oxford, about 47% of occupations will be rendered useless by AI. In a survey conducted by Professor Spyros Makridakis, the employment rates have fallen by 72% from 1820 to 2014 due to AI. These numbers will only get worse with an increase in AI automation.
Succinctly, AI has been an agent of rapid development for the human race. It has helped in minimising human errors, upgrading the level of security, and analysing and executing complex data, among so many other advantages. On the flip side, it has also made humans subservient to technologies, leaving them prone to systematic errors and has rendered many people jobless.
However, an important thing to note is that AI acts upon the data it is fed. Hence, when the integrity of data is compromised, AI fails. Based on this, techniques to analyse AI models and algorithms are required to be built on understanding their decision-making processes while avoiding their prospective mistakes. No algorithm should be blindly followed without an adequate review of the final decisions generated by AI-enhanced technologies.
The outcomes of the utilization of AI can be controlled by the rules we set. This comes withgreat responsibility. While inventors need to assess the consequences and limitations of their inventions before proposing them as solutions, users also need to adequately assess each invention before accepting them as an immediate claim for a solution. Hence, there is a need for widespread education and knowledge sharing with regards to the possible benefits and shortcomings that entail each invention.
Artificial Intelligence is a double-edged sword. It can bring about advancement on all fronts of humanity but can also threaten the living community. To wield this sword effectively, all stakeholders, including inventors and users, must actively participate in directing the use of AI for a better future.
Alli is from Nigeria and a second-year student at Plaksha University
