By Travis Vatland
“I’ll be back!” Arnold Schwarzenegger said, while acting in Terminator, a movie about a cyborg assassin from the future. Having recently watched Terminator, I wondered about how Artificial Intelligence will impact our lives, good and bad, and perhaps the most important, where is the line drawn? However, before we get into the article, what is artificial intelligence (A.I.)?According to resource, “Artificial Intelligence is the theory and development of computer systems able to perform tasks, which normally require human intelligence.”
One of the best reasons that A.I. is so great is because of its ability to learn from mistakes. When there is an error with the programing, technology most often fails. However, because A.I. is able to learn from its mistakes, the chances of error reoccurring is almost impossible. This means a lot less programming for highly complex systems. In addition, A.I.s cognitive abilities are very fast. This means that it can interpret and store information at incredible rates. This will be helpful with doctors trying to make precision medicine because A.I. will take into account the patients’ genes, environment, and lifestyle. A.I. in the hospital setting will also help with analyzing large amounts of data.
Perhaps the most significant concern about highly developed A.I. is that it will leave many people without jobs. As robots become more advanced and are implemented with A.I., many low skill jobs will succumb to technology. Most of the medium to high skill jobs will remain to humans only. But as A.I. continues to advance, it is impossible to imagine any jobs that can’t be controlled by a highly developed robot. Another major concern is that complex A.I. systems in the wrong hands could be very dangerous. This is why many militaries are researching A.I.s capabilities in and out of the field.
One of the major dilemmas within the Artificial Intelligence community is how advanced should it be? Silicon Valley billionaire, Elon Musk, has repeatedly voiced his opinion for the government to put regulations on A.I. Nevertheless, that again raises a problem, how do you regulate A.I. and what should those laws be? In 1942, Isaac Asimov proposed the “three laws of robotics.” Firstly, a robot should not injure a human being, secondly robots must follow all orders given to them by humans, and finally robots must protect their own existence as long as it does not affect any of the first two rules. The main concern with this debate is that if we create robots able to think for themselves, how do we make sure that we avoid them from stop listening to humans? Cofounder of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg has also voiced his opinion on the topic, saying, “I think you can build things and the world gets better. But with AI especially, I am really optimistic.” Another thing to ponder is that current A.I. is not very advanced. This is why many people like Zuckerberg are opposed to regulations because government could end highly developed A.I. before it is even created.
I personally believe that A.I. has the ability to help almost all people and will forever change history. However, I also believe that with this great new technology, comes great responsibility from the developers. I also think that A.I. will play a major role in future politics because of its possible major implications in the labor force and economy. A.I. is also something that cannot really be stopped or regulated, as most world powers are devoting lots of time and money into the uses of A.I. In all, I think A.I. will be great for the future, but without a doubt, there will be some errors first.
Artificial Intelligence. (2018). Merriam-Webster.
Retrieved: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/artificial%20intelligence
Travis Vatland is a student at Mabel-Canton High School. He is one of seven area students participating in the Journal Writing Project, now in its 19th year.
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