Artificial intelligence is a relatively new field, but it’s already making its way into our lives in some exciting ways. It’s also been the subject of many debates about its potential impact on society.
The technology certainly has its benefits — researchers are using artificial intelligence to help doctors detect cancerous tumours, for example, and it’s improving the accuracy of speech recognition software. But critics warn that it could also have negative consequences if we don’t regulate it properly.
What is artificial intelligence?
Artificial intelligence (AI) is a branch of computer science that focuses on making machines capable of intelligent behaviour — behaviour that mimics human thought and rational action.
AI research aims to create machines that can learn from experience, solve problems on their own, interact with people and make decisions that affect other people’s lives or health. AI is expected to produce significant benefits over the coming decades, including improved productivity and better decision-making by human beings.
Will AI Take Over the World?
Our Jobs Are Safe
A common worry about AI is that it will take over all the jobs, leaving us without work and an income. But there are plenty of reasons to believe we won’t end up in such a terrible predicament.
For one thing, new technology often creates more jobs than it destroys; computers, after all, don’t manufacture their processors. And while people might not be working as baristas or truck drivers any more, they’ll still need things like therapists, personal assistants, and chefs—and there will likely be even more jobs that are yet to be invented.
The other reason we’ll unlikely see widespread unemployment due to AI is that we’re nowhere near sophisticated enough to create machines capable of performing most human tasks on their own.
Legal Rights
Should we give robots legal power? It’s a question being debated among scientists, government officials and society. So far, the consensus has been no: we are still more capable than machines at making decisions.
However, this could change in the future as science and technology advance. Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming more innovative and more sophisticated every year—indeed, it recently became possible for computers to learn without human guidance. As AI becomes more advanced and integrated into our lives and environment, it will become increasingly essential to decide whether or not to grant it legal rights.
Conclusion
Whether you believe that our AI overlords will ‘destroy us all‘ or usher in a new era of super-intelligence, it’s an interesting topic to consider. We’re still far from creating an AI with all these capacities, but we’re not as far away as you might think. Whether you believe that our AI overlords will ‘destroy us all’ or usher in a new era of super-intelligence, it’s an interesting topic to consider. Hopefully, this article has helped you think more about how AI might evolve in the coming years, so you can better prepare for this (possibly radical) future.
