Whilst Elon Musk (CEO of SpaceX, Tesla and OpenAI) claims we have only a 10% chance of making artificial intelligence (AI) safe, it is fair to say the progress of these systems is inevitable. With the Chancellor promising £2.3 billion of R&D money, and a further £50 million to boost AI, 5G mobile networks and full fibre broadband, one might even presume its inception into our daily lives is becoming ever closer.
Whether that is a good thing is still up for debate and there is certainly a lot of hyperbole around the subject; from claims that it will eradicate jobs to the human race itself. But what is the reality?
Increased productivity: With the potential for mundane and repetitive tasks to be automated and assigned to machines and AI, there will hopefully be an increase in productivity as people have more time to concentrate on the non-administrative parts of their work. This should also lead to increased creativity and innovation as people can put more time towards the intricacies of their work.
Removing human error: As the saying goes ‘to be human is to err’, however AI could theoretically run and process things perfectly, leading to fewer errors.
Greater safety: AI and machines could take over risky and dangerous tasks from humans in sectors ranging from mining to space exploration, meaning progress can be made without human life or safety being put at risk.
Processing big data: We have never gathered or stored as much data as we are doing right now, to the point where it takes an incredible amount of man and machine power to process it. With better AI we could process more of this data and do it more accurately, potentially leading to advancements in forecasting, medical science and environmental predictions.
There is no doubt AI will disrupt both work and the world; many low skill jobs such as in manufacturing are already being replaced and this trend could continue in transport (especially with driverless cars becoming a reality) and admin. To counteract this many people will need to be retrained, and the wider societal impact needs to be thoroughly explored. There are a lot of unknowns and potential risks.
However AI should not be taking over from humans in any high-level decision making context as they lack the ability to look at factors they have not been programmed to look at. AI will work for basic instruction based activities, but while humans can interpret instructions and examine the facets of the action and outcome, AI will not.
Whilst there are some major players who have doubts about AI, the truth remains that it is already here. Attempting to stem the tide of automation could mean being left behind, so businesses need to look at how to work with new innovations rather than be rendered obsolete by them.
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