The AI Revolution - the 4 biggest threats

First of all: Relax! AI won`t destroy humanity right away. It`s still in its infancy and the decision design can be controlled. 

But - No technological advancement developed as fast as AI over the last years. Many experts are scared of it, as it harbors great risks and it is still uncertain whether these can be prevented in the future. If we are not open to new technologies and follow the Google approach, mankind will not advance and start to vanish!

AI as a Threat to Humanity

1. Fear of losing Control

A great amount of people fear the take-over of robots and the enslavement of humanity. Personal AI assistants like Siri, Cortana or Alexa can already take control of a whole house and act autonomously. The idea of losing control over the machine, which controls your house, is quite creepy and disturbing.

There are already examples of how AI got out of control in the past. Microsoft’s AI bot Tay developed into a racist and sexist tweeter within 24 hours of its launch. But this was rather harmless in comparison to the serious consequences of Uber’s first self-driving car accident. The car didn’t stop for a woman who crossed the street and crashed into her. She was brought to a hospital, where she died of her injuries. AI is not as safe yet as companies wants it to be. 

2. AI destroys Jobs

History repeats itself. Technological advancement creates machines, which finishes tasks, that normally require a human to do, faster, cheaper and more precise. People lose their jobs to technology. The rise of Artificial Intelligence will be no exception. Experts predict that 50% of all jobs will be replaced by AI over the next 20 years. If it continues like this, humans will be dispensable at some point.

3. Dependence on Machines

It already started. Smart devices automate a large amount of activities in our daily life. While this sounds convenient right now, as it saves time and stress, it might become a problem for future generations. The ability to think and perceive our surrounding will slowly vanish, as everything will be done automatically for us.

Learning math, navigation, writing and spelling, or even driving will become unnecessary. Our set of skills will shrink and we will slowly transform into a society full of people, who are unable to think for themselves and who are dependent on the machines we created.

Lack of Emotional Intelligence

There are two sides of the same coin. While machines are able to take over human tasks and activities, they still lack a certain human touch. Even with Artificial Intelligence, machines are not able to think, love, hate, cry, laugh, feel guilt or be ashamed.

The primary goal of AI is to finish the task it is programmed to do. The goal might be beneficial, but with no emotional conscience, the program can find a harmful way to achieve it. It does not know what is appropriate and what not. Amazon’s personal assistant Alexa misunderstood a little boy’s request and shocked him and his family with suggestions of porn videos.

I think, therefore I am

AI is neither good nor evil. Fact is, every revolutionary invention of mankind brought opportunities and also threats with it. We are already experiencing the positive effects of AI and acknowledging its possibilities and potential to create a better world, full of health, wealth and safety. The negative effects are still unknown to us. A catastrophic outcome is possible, but one can only imagine and assume its magnitude.

There is also the ethical question of whether it is morally acceptable to create human intelligence for machines. If the machines will get even more intelligent, human-like and involved in our daily lives – and they will – then we need to reconsider where we draw the line between humans and robots.

Where does consciousness start? Can a robot be considered a citizen? Can it be hold responsible for its actions? Is it protected by the law? These questions are still unanswered and will continue to occupy scientific minds for the coming decades.

With great Power comes great Responsibility

It is our responsibility to treat AI with care and to ensure our control over it. We have the power to lead this huge opportunity into the right direction, far away from destruction and towards a bright future.

We at Startup Creator see it as our responsibility to take the next step towards this bright future and help startups developing their promising AI idea.

This article was initially shared on Startup Creator.