Is Artificial Intelligence a Threat?
Technology is an aspect of society that is always evolving and improving whether there are advantages or downsides. There are positive technological improvements such as vaccines and there are negative ones such as nuclear weapons. Artificial intelligence is a new potential technology that is highly debated on whether it would be a good or bad improvement. It is a technology that is both because it could have the potential to improve lives and to endanger lives.
It is important to know what AI is in order to understand the positives and risks. Copeland says AI is a computer or robot that can perform activities or tasks that can only be done by intelligent beings such as humans. AI is a computer that can think for itself because it can do a few tasks that only human beings can. AI is often used to describe, “systems endowed with the intellectual processes characteristic of humans, such as the ability to reason, discover meaning, generalize, or learn from past experiences” (Copeland). It would appear AI must be able to think how a person can by analyzing a situation to determine the best course of action and learning what works best. AI is a technology that seems fictional but there are several individuals, companies, and organizations that are working on it.
AI is a possible new technological advancement that has the potential to be a benefit and a liability to society. According to Tegmark, narrow AI (weak AI) can do narrow task and general AI (strong AI) can “outperform humans at nearly every cognitive task”. The benefit to both would be outperforming humans in certain tasks or all tasks, which could make society more efficient. This means AI could save lives by performing tasks that are dangerous, such as studying natural disasters or driving an airplane. AI is more efficient so it could perform other tasks involving economics, law, and technical topics (verification, validity, security and control) (Tegmark). AI would perform these tasks more efficiently so money would not be mishandled, less innocent people would be convicted of a crime, or people’s information would be more secure. Another long-term benefit for AI would be helping in getting rid of war, disease, and poverty if strong AI is invented (Tegmark). This would be a great benefit because lives would be saved from no wars or diseases and lives would be improved with no poverty.
One potential negative of AI would be an arms race to weaponize it, which could result in AI being used to cause mass destruction and kill innocent civilians (Tegmark). This means AI would not turn against us like in fiction but it would be humans using AI for the wrong reasons. This would be a big potential downside because it would make AI like nuclear weapons in that it could be used to destroy all life. Tagmark says another possible downside would be AI being programed to do something positive but it causes destruction to be efficient. This risk would be an AI doing its job too good because it does not know the limitations that are set, such as being told to drive the speed limit or to do construction in a set location. A final downside would be people losing their jobs because AI is used for every task. This would take away people’s source of income so either jobs would need to be protected or people would need a stipend from businesses or from the government.
AI is an exciting new technology because it has so many possibilities that are positive. Unfortunately, there are risks to AI because they could be used to perform tasks that would harm property, the natural environment, or innocent lives. AI could also threaten people’s income and job security because they can be more efficient than people. AI could ultimately be a threat but it also has the potential save lives and make society more efficient. The risks to AI must be mitigated by making it illegal to use AI for military purposes, giving AI limitations for the tasks it performs, and ensure people have an income if whole industries are replaced by AI.
References
Copeland, B.J. (n.d.). “Artificial Intelligence (AI)”.Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/technology/artificial-intelligence.
Tegmark, M. (n.d.). “Benefits and Risks of Artificial Intelligence”. Retrieved from https://futureoflife.org/background/benefits-risks-of-artificial-intelligence/