Artificial intelligence

Long back, when artificial intelligence was at the initial stage of development, a top researcher said the world is ‘summoning the demon.’ Nobody realized the seriousness of the words back then. But seven decades into technology, we are still afraid of the artificial intelligence dystopia that could come over us. Yes, even though technologies like robotics, artificial intelligence, machine learning, deep learning, data science, etc are the biggest disruption of the 21st century, they have induced fear among general people of an apocalypse. Artificial intelligence risks are often portrayed in movies and series with an even darker motive, making humans reluctant to tech advancements.

Some call artificial intelligence a gift to humankind while others disagree with the remark. But the worldly applications of technology represent the sophistication we are enjoying today. The applications of artificial intelligence are changing the tailwind of every industry. It even helps humans solve real-world problems in no time. Still, why do we fear artificial intelligence risks so much? Because what we are seeing today is just the tip of an iceberg. We are in the first phase of AI called Artificial Narrow Intelligence (ANI) and two other advancements like Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) and Artificial Super Intelligence (ANI) are yet to hit the market. Even in the first phase of technological advancement, we are facing many practical issues. For example, the much hailed Autonomous technology killed a car owner in California when he tried Tesla Model 3’s autopilot feature. Similarly, a self-driving Uber vehicle in Arizona killed a pedestrian. Other instances of technology mishaps also represent an upcoming dystopia. Therefore, we take a close look at the possible artificial intelligence risks that are awaiting us.

5 Risks Artificial Intelligence Could Bring in Future

Job Automation

The immediate risk that artificial intelligence poses to human society is massive job loss. Already many laborious and time-consuming jobs are being taken over by robots and automation. If artificial intelligence gets ready to do intellectual tasks, then it will completely sweep away many employees. According to a study by Brookings Institution in 2019, 36 million people work in jobs with high exposure to automation, putting them always at the risk of unemployment.

Autonomous Weapons

Despite signing a number of peace agreements, somewhere in the world, the war is still ongoing. At a time when world leaders are trying to join hands with each other, technological advancements could pose a major threat to their stance. Autonomous weapons or killer robots are anticipated to be the future of warfare. Although they are designed to kill invaders and militants according to pre-programmed instructions, their judgments could go wrong at a certain point. Many questions what will happen if the autonomous robots go awry and kill innocent people.

AI Discrimination

In the 21st century, people are working to erase the thin line called ‘inequality.’ However, it was a tough journey and we are taking small steps every day to stay away from discrimination and bias. But what to do when machines are biased? Yes, that could happen. Robots and AI-powered systems are fed with human-based data. We have evidenced the kind of bias people have in their minds and if that reflects on the machines, then it will be a serious concern. For example, an AI-powered recruitment system could neglect certain resumes because they are from marginalized groups.

Privacy Concerns

China is blamed by the world for monitoring and keeping an eye on the Uighur population. The country uses surveillance cameras and computer vision technology to identify Uighur people and track their moves. This is just a small hint on how privacy could badly be affected by artificial intelligence. On average, we create 2.5 quintillion bytes of data every day. The data is extracted from our daily actions from morning to night. Companies using the data could pose a threat to individuals if they use it wrong.

Artificial Superintelligence

As mentioned earlier, what we are going through now is now the beginning block of technology. Artificial superintelligence is the extreme kind of sophistication that humans have anticipated to see in the coming years. Artificial intelligence refers to systems with an intelligence that far surpasses human intelligence in several respects. As a result, they will be able to learn and train, all by themselves. Therefore, the creation of something similar to human beings could bring a complete dystopia to humankind.