Artificial Intelligence And Our Future

Introduction

Artificial Intelligence is an emerging phenomenon of Information Technology where robots and computer-aided supports are being made so efficient and intelligent that they may be able to replicate the way human beings indulge in decision-making processes. The research and focus on artificial intelligence and its adjoining areas have increased over time, and it is expected that the proper and efficient development of artificial intelligence will change the way human beings work and process in the future. This expectation and rapid development in this field is increasing the risk that soon robots will replace the human labor. This can be very destructive for society as unemployment and social frustration may increase and trigger global chaos. Several observers have highlighted this threat in their research papers.

The advocates of this technology believe that artificial intelligence can reduce the workload of human beings by shifting it to automated and robotic supports, thus enhancing its efficiency, effectiveness, precision, and reliability. Various researchers have evaluated and analyzed artificial intelligence in various ways to determine its capacity, capability, reliability and future processes. Having some criticism and possible threats in the future, it is believed that artificial intelligence has the tendency to overtake the role of human beings and human labour in future, which can be dangerous for the survival and sustainability of the human race.

Robot Ethics, Future Issus And Concerns

Critics call the future of the world the mechanized world (Lin, Abney & Bekey, 2010) since it is expected that most of the processes and procedures will become automated and technological. However, these critics are very much concerned about the issues of this mechanized world as well (Lin, Abney & Bekey, 2010). This issue is of high concern because “If the evolution of the robotics industry is analogous to that of computers, then we can expect important social and ethical challenges to rise from robotics as well, and attending to them sooner rather than later will likely help mitigate those negative consequences” (Lin, Abney & Bekey, 2010). These issues have to be dealt with with great care and focus.

Furthermore, robots are still machines that can make critical and dangerous errors on the basis of malfunctioning, wrong analysis, and various other internal and external factors (Lin, Abney & Bekey, 2010). Relying too much on them can be dangerous and can make robots out of control as well (Lin, Abney & Bekey, 2010). For instance, recently, robotic warfare aircraft technology, called drones, was introduced (Lin, Abney & Bekey, 2010). They were believed to be the most precise unarmed missile-launching aircraft. However, their precision is now being specifically argued and questioned (Lin, Abney & Bekey, 2010). This clearly shows that since robots cannot think and evaluate conditions and situations critically, they are not able to make accurate judgments and decision-making as human beings can. Replacing humans with such robots can be disastrous.

The identification and prediction of such issues before time is highly important and essential. Otherwise, the negative impact of these robotics will be similar to the rate of development (Lin, Abney & Bekey, 2010). There is every possibility that these negative impacts will outweigh the positive or beneficial impacts of artificial intelligence (Lin, Abney & Bekey, 2010). The authorities and researchers working on the development of artificial intelligence must consider these threats and risks so that necessary precautionary and control measures can be taken.

Achievement Of Singularity And Unbelievably Faster Processing

The advocates of this technology try to justify the replacement of human beings with robots on the basis of the efficiency and calculative precision it can achieve and practically establish the phenomenon of singularity. One of the key features of artificial intelligence is the ability to enhance the productivity, efficiency, and precision of the work being performed. According to some researchers, this rapidness and precision will enhance so much in the near future that it will become difficult to distinguish between the processing and accomplishment time of the procedure.

This phenomenon is known as ‘singularity’ and is often defined as “a future time when societal, scientific, and economic change is so fast we cannot even imagine what will happen from our present perspective” (Bell, 2003). Others define this phenomenon as “the singular time when technological development will be at its fastest” (Bell, 2003). These phrases and descriptions of singularity summarize the most strengthened feature of artificial intelligence.

The advocates of Artificial intelligence believe that soon, automated systems will take exclusive control of the organizational, economic, social and other decision-making procedures that are often prone to human negligence and errors. This control will be so precise and rapid that no human being will be able to compete with it. In other words, due to high precision and rapidness, artificial intelligence will take the control of major departments and organizations away from human beings.

However, some still doubt the rapidness and precision of artificially intelligent systems and argue for the approach through which this precision can be achieved. The advocates respond to this argument by explaining the theory of Moore’s Law (Bell, 2003). They state that “the number of transistors that could fit on a single computer chip had doubled every year for six years from the beginnings of integrated circuits in 1959. Moore predicted that the trend would continue, although the doubling rate was later adjusted to an 18-month cycle” (Bell, 2003). This clearly explains the technical aspect of how the efficiency of these systems has been increasing exponentially over time. Soon, it will surpass the imagination of average human beings.

However, the future is not all as pleasant as it appears to be. Some researchers have shown how the ability of automated systems and robots to take over major processes can eventually lead to destruction of human need for processing. In an article by Sun Microsystems, it was claimed that “We could be the last generation of humans.” Joy warned that “knowledge alone will enable mass destruction” and termed this phenomenon “knowledge-enabled mass destruction.” (Bell, 2003). This apparently horrifying discovery can be a warning for the advocates of transferring exclusive control to artificial intelligence.

Rapid Growth Of Artificial Intelligence

News and articles about revolutionary steps and innovations in the field of artificial intelligence have become a common aspect of today’s life. With each discovery and invention, the future is coming a step closer. Researchers are very much focused on enhancing the mechanisms through which the use of artificial intelligence can be enhanced as they believe that “The growing power of computer vision is a crucial first step for the next generation of computing, robotic and artificial intelligence systems. Once machines can identify objects and understand their environments, they can be freed to move around in the world. And once robots become mobile, they will be increasingly capable of extending the reach of humans or replacing them” (Markoff, 2013). This clearly shows how the developers and researchers have gained control and knowledge over the aspects of robotics that will help in its further advancements.

Conclusion

Critically analyzing the evaluating the rapid development of artificial intelligence and its possible impacts on the future of human beings, it can be clearly observed that the hovering threats and risks are outweighing the benefits that can be harnessed from artificial intelligent. Even though robotic technology has been developed to such an extent, it can have an IQ level of a certain extent and the capability to make decisions on the basis of its extensive knowledge base. However, this can never be as efficient and precise as a human being can be. Computers can only make decisions on the basis of logic and calculations, which can be immoral and unethical as well. These aspects are not recognized by the computers or roots since these are human attributes and can only be understood with the presence of cognitive and judgmental capabilities on the basis of reasoning, intuitiveness and emotions. These qualities are only present in human beings, and no robot can achieve them. No matter how efficient and effective these robots are, they can never make use of emotions and intuitiveness in decision-making processes. Hence increasing the risk of faulty or inappropriate decisions that may be challenging from ethical and moral perspectives.

References

Bell, James John. (2003). Exploring the ‘Singularity’. Kurzweil Accelerating Intelligence. http://www.kurzweilai.net/exploring-the-singularity

Lin, Patrick; Abney, Keith & Bekey, George. (2010). Robot ethics: Mapping the issues for a mechanized world. http://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1020&context=phil_fac

Markoff, John. (2013). The Rapid Advance of Artificial Intelligence. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/15/technology/the-rapid-advance-of-artificial-intelligence.html?_r=0