Top Artificial Intelligence Risks in 2024

The evolution of artificial intelligence has been phenomenal in various industry domains like fintech, retail, healthcare, education, etc. However, the exponential advancement in artificial intelligence has also sparked debates and discussions about the future risks of AI. As we approach 2024, the experts are not overlooking the critical challenges and ethical considerations in AI and associated machine learning, deep learning, etc.?

Top Challenges in Artificial Intelligence??

Being one the most transformative technologies, though AI offers supreme innovation, efficiency, precision, etc., it poses significant challenges too. Understanding and tackling those challenges is important to ensure safe and ethical AI use.?

Let us jot down some of the major AI challenges in 2024.?

? The Need for Computing Resources?

This is one of the biggest technical challenges associated with AI. Developing AI algorithms needs computing resources that are expensive and sometimes rare. AI applications are complex and largely dependent on data, leading to the need for computing power. This creates challenges for availability, scalability, and sustainability. However, the experts are trying to handle the challenge by building specialized hardware components, using cloud and edge computing, and AI model optimization.?

? Biases?

AI biases have become one of the hot topics of discussion today. The bias has led to unfair decisions and compromises the fairness of AI technologies. There are solutions to handle this challenge, like conducting data audits, algorithm audits, fairness metrics, and other debiasing techniques to eliminate data and algorithm biases.?

? Privacy?

AI systems use huge amounts of data. AI gathers, stores, processes, and shares sensitive data like biometrics, health, and other personal data belonging to individuals or organizations. This creates a risk of privacy for them. It is important to find ways to ensure privacy and safeguard the confidentiality of the users. The experts are finding solutions to prevent fraud, deception, identity theft, etc. like homomorphic encryption and anonymization techniques. They are implementing data protection laws to control the use of data, too.?

? Accountability?

AI systems also face challenges when it comes to the accountability for the outcomes. AI is complex and unpredictable. Accountability is imperative for compliance and right protection. Solutions like defining roles for the developers and users, setting AI regulators, setting up traceable AI systems, etc., are being developed.?

? Data Scarcity?

Due to the increasing unethical data use, there have been strict IT laws to restrict the same. This creates the problem of accessing local data for developing AI applications. Since data is a crucial component of AI, large companies are trying to innovate new techniques to create AI models that can work despite data scarcity.?

? AI Talent?

The excessive use of AI has generated the need for numerous AI-trained professionals. This has led to the talent war. The current market is demonstrating a gap between the demand and supply of AI professionals. While professionals are gradually honing their skills and entering the AI industry, the spread of AI-enabled solutions in every industry is growing exponentially. From retail to healthcare, everyone is using AI tools, and the future of AI is bright. This needs more AI talent, which is scarce currently.?

? Fake Information?

The digital age has also created space for misinformation and fake news. AI-generated fake videos and audio are rampant. Even the World Economic Forum has highlighted the nuances of spreading false information and found the same risk of using AI technologies. There is a growing concern about the misuse of AI in election results, creating a threat to democracy. The victims are also suffering psychological impact and reputation damage. Big cyber security companies are building AI-driven tools to detect and prevent deepfakes.?

? Human Dependency?

Becoming overly dependent on AI technology is a concern for human skills. AI tools should work to enhance human abilities and not replace them. It is important to use AI systems that need human intervention. This will ensure a healthy collaboration of humans and technology. One must educate the public about the significance of maintaining a healthy balance between AI and humans.?

? Environmental Threat?

Such enormous use of AI technology needs a lot of energy and resources, which may affect our environmental sustainability. AI systems consume significant amounts of electricity, creating high energy demand and leading to carbon emissions. The increased carbon footprint for building and maintaining complex AI models is detrimental to society. One should promote using energy-efficient AI algorithms and data centers to tackle this challenge. Leading tech companies are investing in ESG. Microsoft aims to become carbon-negative by 2030. Even Google plans to operate on carbon-free energy by 2030. These eco-friendly AI initiatives can ensure healthy AI use.?

Wrapping up?

The power of AI cannot be undermined. Though it is a pervasive technology that has brought immense benefits in numerous industries, it is vital to understand and address its challenges. As we enter 2024, we strive to create better mechanisms and solutions to overcome AI challenges in our Artificial intelligence career.?