The Rise of AI: Good or Bad?

Almost every year, new movies come out with the basic plot of an AI (Artificial Intelligence) taking over the world. Through the decades, many movies speculated what would happen if a true AI was created, with popular examples being Resident Evil, Eagle Eye, The Matrix, Avengers and Free Guy. However, are these accurate representations of the pros and cons of AI?

AIs have been integrated into our daily lives to a large degree. When you’re searching up all the latest casino games or opening a social media app, they are running in the background to find the best result particular to you. We looked at what an AI is and the pros and cons of its growing influence.

What’s an AI?

In layman’s terms, AI stands for artificial intelligence, and it’s a technology that allows a computer program to mimic human intelligence and thoughts. However, there are different types of AIs, depending on their purpose. Weak AI is the type that is prevalent in our daily lives. It’s present in most of the technology we use and is designed to focus on one task and nothing beyond that. 

Strong AIs are what researchers are currently striving towards and are the type that can learn and understand any intellectual task the same as a human. This AI would be the type you’d expect to see in a robot with human intelligence, like in the movie I, Robot.

Super AI is the last type and the most advanced type. This AI is still only a concept, but essentially will be able to learn, understand and perform any task better than a human would be able to. This is usually the type that most movies use and is also the type that makes people wary of trusting AIs. Various examples of a super AI, both good and bad, are the Red Queen in Resident Evil, Jarvis, Friday and Ultron in Iron Man, etc. 

Pros of AIs

When looking at AIs, there are several benefits to them. One of the main benefits is a reduction in human error, as the system is run on a foolproof computer code. It can also increase accuracy and precision to the degree that most humans aren’t capable of.

It also lessens the risk to humans if robots do dangerous jobs, like handling risky chemicals or operating dangerous machines. Further, robots don’t need to take breaks like humans do and are thus available 24/7. They can consistently handle repetitive tasks with the same precision since they depend on an algorithm to complete them.

AIs can also assist in creating new inventions and running these inventions. Often, AI can make a leap in the algorithm that the human brain isn’t geared towards making. This means new technology can advance at an unprecedented rate. They also make unbiased decisions, as they don’t have emotions or ulterior motives influencing their decision. This means they often make the best decision to reach the desired outcome.

Cons of AIs

When we looked at the cons, we only considered currently existing AI’s drawbacks. One of the biggest cons is that it’s expensive to create an AI. That means that any robot, machinery or product with an AI embedded in it is often more expensive than its counterparts. A good example is Tesla, which is way more expensive than other cars.

AIs can also not think beyond the parameters of their algorithm and have no creativity. They can only use the information made part of their code or accessible libraries. AIs also take away employment opportunities and make people lazy. 

Many people become unemployed as robots or machinery with AIs take over their jobs by the year. Other people become complacent as they believe the AI will do the job for them. This means we use our brains less and thus aren’t challenging ourselves to know as much as possible.

The last point is a theoretical issue, although it isn’t practically relevant at this stage. That’s the issue of ethics and morality. If AIs grow to be as smart or smarter than humans and can do all that humans can, there are two problems. One is that they might take over the world, an event that’s referred to as AI singularity. The other is that if they have human intelligence and capability, where do we draw the line between humans and AI and their rights?

The Future of AI

Currently, AIs are helping with technology development, and though there are some drawbacks, the benefits outweigh them. More problems and considerations will pop up if AIs continue to grow and develop to become strong and super AIs. However, AIs aren’t yet at the stage where they don’t need human intervention, as human creativity and design are still needed.