The Pros and Cons of Artificial Intelligence - Take Two

I define Artificial Intelligence (AI) as “smart machines” – computerized non-humans that require humans to develop hardware and software that simulate artificial life (with, or without emotion – your choice.) Believe it or not, we are there today in that we have friendly AI devises that give us information, tell us how to get from point A to B, and much more. These AI devices will continue to evolve to a point where they could negatively affect human-kind. Why you might ask, because there are many smart people on the earth today that can (and probably will) make this happen. Without a doubt, like the Internet, AI will positively affect our lives, but, also like the internet, AI will have many devastating side effects. The purpose of this article is to describe the pros and cons of artificial intelligence.

Pros of AI

? Intelligent devices make life easier. Today, we can speak into our phones, or type local-language-like sentences into a browser that then queries the internet – the result, we get any piece of information we require, within microseconds, with almost 100% accuracy.

? When combined with sensors, navigation becomes a breeze when you have the right AI software. Arguably, we have self-driving cars / planes / trains that are far superior to humans (especially those humans that are texting), and self-driving vehicles never get tired (but they do occasionally need a fuel recharge.)

? Intelligent machines can be employed to do certain dangerous tasks. They can adjust their parameters such as speed and time, and be made to act quickly, unaffected by factors that affect humans. In the past, humans mined for coal and other natural resources, a physically challenging and dangerous job. With “smart machines”, these natural resources can be mined without injury or loss of human life.

? Today, robotics is used through-out the manufacturing process. Without question, these robots are “smart machines”, programed to do the same thing, perfectly, over-and-over again. However, what if these robots were programed with a bit more intelligence, so they could tap the internet, and learn, what would they do? Thank goodness manufacturing robots are static (but what if they were programmed to think-freely and move?

? Smartphones are a great example of platforms using artificial intelligence. They can correct spelling errors, and even predict what a user is going to type (based on past usage.) Smartphones are becoming personal assistants – answering questions, routing us, providing up-to-date sporting and weather information, and much more. Smartphones are artificial intelligence platforms that have made daily life a lot easier.

? Fraud detection is another example of an artificial intelligence platform that has made our life a bit easier – ensuring personal assets aren’t stolen (but, one could argue artificial intelligent devices are trying to get-around these fraud systems – making our lives a bit more anxious.)

? Organizations use “bots” and “web crawlers” to determine information that is relevant to our lives – making web searches easy and fast……providing the latest information at the touch of a button (or the speaking of a command.)

? Emotions that often hinder rational thinking of human beings is not a problem for artificial thinkers. Lacking the emotional side, robots can think “more” logically to make better decisions. Sentiments are associated with moods that affect human efficiency, which is not the case with artificially intelligent machines.

?When we play a computer game, we are in fact interacting with artificially intelligent device. In a game where the computer plays as our opponent, it is with the help of AI that the machine plans the games next moves in response to yours. Thus, gaming is among the most common examples of an advantage of artificial intelligence.

? Artificial Intelligence is at work in the medical field as well. Complex AI-based algorithms can help doctors assess patients and their health risks. It can help them track side effects when multiple medications are taken in unison. Surgery simulators use machine intelligence to train doctors and nurses. AI can be used to simulate brain functioning, and thus prove useful in the diagnosis and treatment of neurological problems. As is the case with any other field, repetitive or time-consuming tasks can be managed through the application of artificial intelligence.

? The greatest advantage of artificial intelligence is that machines do not require sleep or breaks, and are able to function without stopping. They can continuously perform the same task without getting bored or tired. When employed to carry out dangerous tasks, the risk to human health and safety is reduced.

Cons of AI

? We are at the infancy of Artificial Intelligence, and as a result, trillions of dollars will be spent around the globe developing new products, improving algorithms, making machines think like humans – intellectually and emotionally. Much of the development will be for the betterment of humankind, however, there will be a small fraction of development that focus on destruction.

? An important concern regarding the application of artificial intelligence is about ethics and moral values. Is it ethically correct to create replicas of human beings? Do our moral values allow us to recreate intelligence? Intelligence is a gift of nature, it may not be right to instill it into machines to make it work for our benefit.

? Today “smart machines” are able to store and access tremendous amounts of data – but not as efficiently or quickly as the human brain. It is forecast by 2025 there will be simulators that closely match the performance of the brain. Today, computer “clouds” can make available millions of servers, with operating systems being able to supply 50,000 to 100,000 CPUs dedicated to a single task (e.g. analyzing a nuclear bison collision at CERN.

? The idea of machines replacing human beings sounds far-fetched, however, we are inching towards that reality every day. Today, we can perform medical operations thousands of miles from a patient. Kiosks are now starting to take orders, faster and with fewer errors, at fast food restaurants. Security Firewalls are analyzing data at an amazing rate to determine if hackers are trying to infiltrate your computer system.

? Imagine intelligent machines employed in creative fields. Do you think robots can excel or even compete with the human mind in creative thinking or originality? Thinking machines lack a creative mind. Human beings are emotional intellectuals. They think and feel. Their feelings guide their thoughts. Today, this is not the case with machines. The intuitive abilities that humans possess, the way humans can judge based on previous knowledge and intuition, the inherent abilities that they have, cannot be replicated by machines. Also, machines lack common sense. However, this is changing……

? If robots begin to replace humans in every field, it will eventually lead to unemployment. People will be left with nothing to do. So much empty time may result in its destructive use. Thinking machines will govern all the fields and populate the positions that humans occupy, leaving thousands of people jobless. As machines become smarter they will not need humans to repair them, they will become self-sufficient.

? Also, due to the reduced need to use their intelligence, lateral thinking and multitasking abilities of humans may diminish. With so much assistance from machines, if humans do not need to use their thinking abilities, these abilities will gradually decline. With the heavy application of artificial intelligence, humans may become overly dependent on machines, losing their mental capacities.

? If the control of machines goes into the wrong hands, it may cause destruction. Machines won't think before acting. Thus, they may be programmed to do the wrong things, or for mass destruction.

? Apart from all these cons of AI, there is a fear of robots superseding humans. Ideally, human beings should continue to be the masters of machines. However, if things turn the other way around, the world will turn into chaos. Intelligent machines may prove to be smarter than us, they might enslave us and start ruling the world. 

It should be understood that artificial intelligence has many pros, however, its 3-5 cons can be devastating to humankind. The benefits and risks of AI should be carefully weighed before employing it for human convenience. Or, in the greed to play God, humankind may destroy itself.

What’s Being Done?

Through a joint alliance on artificial intelligence (AI), five tech giants established guidelines to try and protect us from an apocalyptic future.

Fears of what autonomous technologies are capable of is entirely understandable, even though artificial intelligence is still in early the stages of evolution. So, Amazon, Alphabet’s DeepMind / Google, Facebook, IBM and Microsoft have created an ethics-focused nonprofit with goals of educating the public, protecting the privacy and security of individuals, and to create a forum for discussion of the complex issues in a future with machines that WILL be in decision-making roles.

The “PARTNERSHIP ON AI” proposed a set of eight tenets so the use of AI is “beneficial to people and society.” But the corporate-sounding tenets seem to be a trumped-up, yet still watered-down version of the three fundamental “Rules of Robotics,” as written by legendary science fiction author Isaac Asimov. Asimov’s three rules state:

1) A robot may not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

2) A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.

3) A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws.

This is really scary because these corporate giants, who have sophisticated software development expertise, are starting to realize the catastrophic risks of Artificial Intelligence (even though there are significant upsides.) The unfortunate part of the “Partnership on AI” is that it lacks enforcement capabilities.

The 8 Tenants of the “Partnership on AI” are as follows:

1.  We will seek to ensure that AI technologies benefit and empower as many people as possible.

2.  We will educate and listen to the public and actively engage stakeholders to seek their feedback on our focus, inform them of our work, and address their questions.

3.  We are committed to open research and dialog on the ethical, social, economic, and legal implications of AI.

4.  We believe that AI research and development efforts need to be actively engaged with and accountable to a broad range of stakeholders.

5.  We will engage with and have representation from stakeholders in the business community to help ensure that domain-specific concerns and opportunities are understood and addressed.

6.  We will work to maximize the benefits and address the potential challenges of AI technologies, by:

a) Working to protect the privacy and security of individuals.

b) Striving to understand and respect the interests of all parties that may be impacted by AI advances.

c) Working to ensure that AI research and engineering communities remain socially responsible, sensitive, and engaged directly with the potential influences of AI technologies on wider society.

d) Ensuring that AI research and technology is robust, reliable, trustworthy, and operates within secure constraints.

e) Opposing development and use of AI technologies that would violate international conventions or human rights, and promoting safeguards and technologies that do no harm.

7.  We believe that it is important for the operation of AI systems to be understandable and interpretable by people, for purposes of explaining the technology.

8.  We strive to create a culture of cooperation, trust, and openness among AI scientists and engineers to help us all better achieve these goals.

More to come…..