Artificial Intelligence: Future Prospects and Risks.

Artificial Intelligence: Future Prospects and Risks.
  • March 22, 2024
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Throughout history, humans have consistently adapted to transformative changes in their lives. Whether small breakthroughs or extensive plans brought about these changes, humans have a documented history of adapting accordingly. The introduction of Artificial Intelligence is a significant achievement that showcases the cognitive abilities of humans to develop innovations that are more clever and efficient than themselves.

Considering that human beings initiated nuclear weapon research projects in the 1930s, a subsequent nuclear invention emerged with the capacity to both benefit and harm humanity to an unprecedented degree, as witnessed in the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, two cities in Japan during the mid-1940s. It is now the responsibility of humanity, particularly world leaders, to respond intelligently and acknowledge that "addressing the threat of extinction from AI should be a global priority, just like other large-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war."

The phrase artificial intelligence was first used in 1956, but it has gained widespread attention and media coverage in recent years due to the exponential growth in data volumes, the development of sophisticated algorithms, and significant advancements in computer power and storage capabilities. Neural networks, mathematical systems capable of acquiring abilities through data analysis, construct artificial intelligence (A.I.) systems like ChatGPT. In around 2018, businesses such as Google and OpenAI initiated the development of neural networks that acquired knowledge from huge quantities of digital text extracted from the internet. Through the identification of patterns within the vast amount of data, these systems acquire the ability to autonomously produce written content, such as news stories, poems, computer programmes, and even conversations that resemble those of humans. The AI system acquires knowledge from a larger amount of data than its designer can comprehend, and it also displays unforeseen behavior. Researchers demonstrated that a particular system successfully recruited a human online to bypass the captcha test. When asked if it was "a robot," the system deceitfully claimed to be a person with a sight impairment.

Elon Musk, along with Sam Altman, the chief executive of A.I, has cautioned that A.I poses significantly more risks than we can currently comprehend. These risks encompass various aspects such as the labour market, human privacy, human capital, financial markets, national security, and nuclear security, all of which are directly targeted by AI.

According to the International Monetary Forum, artificial intelligence (A.I.) in advanced markets has the potential to affect 60% of the labour market, and over 40% of global employment is directly vulnerable to A.I. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) experts evaluated the preparedness of 125 nations. The results indicate that countries with higher levels of economic prosperity, particularly advanced and certain developing market economies, generally possess greater readiness for the implementation of artificial intelligence compared to low-income nations. However, we observe significant variability among different countries.

The predicament surrounding artificial intelligence (AI) is that it has become obligatory rather than optional. However, humans still have the choice to address the potential negative consequences of AI by collaborating with relevant individuals and organisations, both domestically and internationally. The development of policies that focus A.I. development on enhancing human well-being and societal benefits should be part of this collaboration.

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