By: Dr Ravi Prakash Tiwari
The word ‘artificial intelligence’ brings to mind robotics. Artificial intelligence is any equipment that mimics cognitive functions humans associate with the human mind such as learning and problem solving. Siri, Google, drones, advertising and so much more are examples of artificial intelligence in our day- to -day lives. Every industry is incorporating artificial intelligence into its system. The artificial intelligence has advantages and disadvantages. AI will replace jobs such as data entry, inventory trackers, proofreaders, and receptionists. We have witnessed certain jobs becoming obsolete with the invention of self-driving cars, drones and factory automation.
New Discoveries
Artificial intelligence will lead to ground-breaking discoveries in the future through its predictive modelling. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory predicted new thermoelectric materials, having examined old scientific papers by using AI. The discovery of an eight-planet solar system was reported by NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) using AI in 2017. In 2019, with the help of Al, two new planets were discovered by astronomers at the University of Texas. Artificial intelligence will lead to scientific -breakthroughs in lesser periods of time. It can also predict the emergence of any new virus, disease, epidemic and discover a corresponding drug to treat it. Al can also predict preventive measures to stop any such epidemic. AI is increasingly replacing human decision-making in many areas of cognizance routine administration, engineering and construction, design, data analytics, and even robotics and AI programming itself. AI today can deal with some of these tasks such as, translation between languages, writing reports based on data analytics visual perception, speech recognition, decision-making, etc. through the AI wave-front being expanded to include new areas of cognition almost on a daily basis.
What will our future look like with the advancement of artificial intelligence? Here are a few case scenarios.
Job Losses
Forrester in a recently published article ‘The Future of Work’ predicts that by 2030, job losses will reach a rate of twenty nine percent (equating to roughly 20 million jobs eliminated) with an even lesser job creation percentage of thirteen percent.
Robot Companions
With the commencement of robotics research that emphasises replicating and learning human behavior, we have robots like Sanbot, Buddy and ASIMO shaping the robots of the future. They will do much more than work in factories. They could act as care givers or simply home companions. A robot will be capable of running searches the same way as your smartphones can, schedule appointments, respond to questions and run basic human errands. So, imagine a world where a robot will be your companion. It will carry on intelligent conversations and provide information, prepare meals according to your health needs and perform a medley of other functions.
Safety Concerns
That a computer has the ability to think like a human being is determined by The Turing test method adopted in artificial intelligence. In 2014, a chat box known as Eugene Goostman made judges think that it was human and led to a lot of raised concerns.
After prolonged research, robots can insert themselves seamlessly into our environments. It comes with enormous opportunities, but also threats that are difficult to predict. Whoever becomes the leader in this sphere becomes the ruler of the world. Artificial intelligence meant as a source for saving lives could be used as a biological weapon. Artificial intelligence utilises data to predicts trends. Deepfake technology, another fast-rising concern enables a person in a media source such as videos or pictures to be replaced by someone else’s image. This has made its way into app technology such as the Zao, a Chinese deepfake app, in which powerful politicians are misrepresented in videos and peoples’ faces are misused in pornographic media. In the wrong hands, is anyone really safe?
Healthcare
Multiple sets of data to reveal patterns in diseases, diagnosis and treatments are accessed by AI. This will lead to the healthcare industry to develop AI algorithms that will enhance longevity and predict the commencement of ailments, improve drug research processes and aid doctors in diagnosis. Drones are already revolutionizing the delivery of medical services by providing medical supplies, search and rescue operations and medical care. countries with poor medical services will be greatly benefitted by this technology. Also, nanotechnology combined with artificial intelligence will be a game -changer in the way in which we treat diseases. It will identify cancerous cells and eliminate them in no time.
Conclusion
There is still a long way to replicate human intelligence, but it may not lead to any humanlike intelligence. It may usher in an era in which there will probably be no such thing as ‘pure’ human intelligence, because all humans will be an amalgamation of biological and non-biological systems. Humans and machines will blend to create a human-machine civilisation. The new “Age of Thinking Machines” may even force us to fundamentally rethink and redesign our institutions of governance, allocation, and production which today are far from being perfect. Never before in the history of humanity have we experienced technology transforming the entire landscape of the man machine paradigm so swiftly and so profoundly as it is transforming. Revolutionary breakthroughs have been achieved in image recognition, data analysis, autonomous learning, and the construction of scalable systems. Artificial intelligence will metamorphose the way we view the world both positively and negatively. Anyone who holds the power of Al in his or her hands has to be cautious in its usage. We must review privacy laws and security parameters to safeguard everyone from vulnerability. Beyond that the advantages currently outweigh the disadvantages. If researches continue to be done with transparency and accountability, the balance would not tip in favor of the disadvantages.
The author is a author of Book “ Pun Is Fun”.
