At its core, artificial intelligence is about building machines that can think and act intelligently. While most AI used today impacts humankind positively, any powerful tool can be utilized for destructive goals when it falls into the wrong hands. Ultimately, experts are working towards artificial GENERAL intelligence, where systems can handle any task that intelligent humans could perform and most likely beat us at them. Since recent developments have made super-intelligent machines possible much sooner than we initially thought, the time is now to determine the dangers of artificial intelligence. Let’s take a look at 8 of them.
- Malicious Use: AI systems can be used for evil or even dangerous purposes in the wrong hands. For example, Digital, Physical, and Political Security.
- Job Loss: This is the most immediate danger, threatening about 25% of our jobs. Jobs with repetitive duties are the most defenseless. A study found that automation would impact low-wage earners, especially those in food-service, office management, and administration. But as machine learning algorithms become more advanced, jobs requiring degrees could be at risk as well.
- Fairness and Bias Concerns: Algorithms can make fair decisions without human bias. But an AI system’s conclusions are only as good as the data it’s provided with. If a particular population is left out in the data used to train a machine, the model’s product could be unjustly prejudiced towards that population.
- Physical Safety: If left unchecked, AI’s imperfections can cause physical damage. Look at self-driving cars, an AI application beginning to take hold in today’s motor market. If a self-driving vehicle fails and goes off-course, that poses an immediate threat to the passenger, other drivers, and pedestrians.
- Privacy Violations: The 21st century has become the era of Big Data and sophisticated technology. And this all concerns everyone as the meaning and value of privacy is the subject of considerable debate. The increasing power of AI is muddling the clarity and agreement between privacy, giving birth to data breaches and security issues.
- Inequality: It is undeniable that the rise of artificial intelligence will significantly impact society in several ways. There is the potential for outstanding benefits and a widening of the levels of inequality that already exist today. So which way will it go?
- Market volatility: With so much data in this era, AI might not know what a “normal” market ACTUALLY looks like. Simply put, AI does not have enough experience to handle the next market crash.
- Weapons Automatization: As seen across many nations, autonomous weapons systems (AWS) are progressing rapidly. This rise in the weaponization of artificial intelligence seems to have become a highly damaging advancement. It brings complex safety challenges for not only each nation’s decision-makers but also the future of humanity.
Takeaway
So, does artificial intelligence pose a catastrophic danger? Do we need to prepare for Terminators lurking in the streets? In short, no. Not if these risks are moderated through ethical development and careful consideration from actual humans. Experts believe that the future of artificial intelligence will depend on debates between several populations from different backgrounds, ethnicities, genders, and professions to address the wide-ranging impacts this technology will have on our lives. AI consistently outperforms Google, Amazon, and other influential players, and we look forward to seeing what AI develops in the future.
