Artificial intelligence (AI) is one of the revolutionary changes humans have made in the technological field. But will AI systems issues turn against us one day? It helps us do various chorus work like laundry, raising kids, preparing mid-day meals and more. UNESCO says, “Today, artificial intelligence plays a role in billions of people’s lives. Sometimes unnoticed but often with profound consequences, it transforms our societies and challenges what it means to be human”. Such views compel us to think beyond the functional capabilities of artificial intelligence such as the ethics behind creating life-consequential machines. It is also necessary to think about what these systems are doing to us to ensure any issues found in AI machines do not become a matter of ethical concern but rather do a common good of humankind.
Employment issues due to artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is expected to replace the human workforce in future which indeed creates a matter of ethical concern for us. As we know, AI can perform the job with its mixed opinion and emotion-based qualities in various fields. Although AI cannot be a complete job killer it will be definitely a specific job area killer. For instance, many petty works in manufacturing companies are now been carried out with robots that work on artificial intelligence technology.
Research indicates that AI will inevitably replace various work categories, particularly in the retail, warehousing, customer service and technology industries. But then, companies will be relieved from spending a tremendous amount on human resources, get high-value tasks free from human errors and faster work employment. However, these new trends or digital transformations have become a matter of ethical concern for labour displacement across industries. In short, people would love to work more with a machine rather than get themselves replaced by them.
Social media pain due to artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is immensely used by people who seek to spread fake messages, videos, images or other content via social media channels. It is widely reported that bots play a big role in elections and other campaigns to spread political agenda seamlessly. While social media is used to make friends, share views and inform others, AI-enabled systems used by the wrong people create and spread misinformation in the media via the internet to manipulate people and fuel the wrong notion.
In fact, many criminals and mafia use them to amplify messages and put self-ideas into other people’s heads. They may attempt to interfere in governmental operations or impact industries through malicious actors spreading false claims or by shifting public views. All of these reveal how unprepared we are for artificial intelligence use in social media where unprotected citizens become vulnerable to bad actors’ actions.
The artificial intelligence controlling complex systems
The reason why we humans are on top of every technological invention is not about being strong physically but because we have invented them and have the power to control them. It can be said that the human mind and intelligence are the core reasons behind human dominance. Through it, we get better, faster, and stronger technologies that can make our life easier, both physically and mentally. But the intensive use of artificial intelligence poses threat to the controlling side of humans as we are slowly transferring the power into the hands of AI-enabled systems. We cannot simply unplug or just switch off AI advanced AI machines as they may anticipate the move and defend themselves. This singularity can potentially create an issue that might become a matter of ethical concern in future.
Artificial intelligence’s role in cyber attacks
As the technology is becoming more powerful, malicious users are using AI more to damage targeted systems maliciously. What will happen if our, government and nearby institutions’ systems get hacked by a few corrupt people? Many industries are trying to figure out an answer to this and have even started taking severe actions to prevent future threats, make their core systems harder to detect and build an environment more efficient than ever before. However, the notion behind mass hacking is terrifying and we need to address this AI issue while constructing or managing digital infrastructure and AI-enabled systems because detecting malicious attacks is going to become more difficult over time.
Racist robots or artificial intelligence biases
Although artificial intelligence has the potential to maintain targeted speed and system capacity which is far beyond humans, it cannot be relied upon completely. Some systems such as Google photos which identify people through AI can go wrong sometimes such as when marking racial sensitivity or when the software predicts future criminals through bias against black people. It must not be forgotten that we have made artificial intelligence and can sometimes be judgmental or biased. But if machines start making biased decisions, social progress will be hindered dramatically and AI can become a catalyst for negative change.
Impact of artificial intelligence acts of stupidity
It doesn’t matter if you’re a robot or a person; intelligence comes through learning. Algorithms often go through a training phase where they “learn” to distinguish the proper patterns and behave to their input. When a system has finished training, it may go on to the trial phase, when it is presented with more examples and its performance is evaluated.
The training process cannot include every scenario that a system can encounter in the actual world. Therefore, these systems are susceptible to exploitation that people would not. As society relies on AI to bring employment, stability, and productivity, we must ensure that the machine works as intended and that individuals cannot overwhelm and exploit it.
Key takeaway
Artificial intelligence is already in our lives, directs our choices and often acts in a way that can harm us knowingly or unknowingly. There are some legislative vacuums in worldwide systems which needs to be filled fast to ensure that artificial intelligence issues do not become a matter of ethical concern for us. Although frameworks and guidelines exist, they are utilized unevenly and without much government intervention. Hence, a global instrument is a key to regulating globally used artificial intelligence to employ human-friendly rules and values in AI-enabled machines.
