Artificial Intelligence- Balancing our Fears with the Potential Rewards

https://www.fool.com/investing/2023/06/23/exactly-what-scares-experts-about-artificial-intel/

https://beststocks.com/sam-altman-emphasizes-global-cooperation-for/

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Artificial Intelligence (AI) is an evolving technology with a lot to offer those who use it. It’s a powerful tool that can be used to empower workers and consumers and it’s also a tool that can be used to sophistically extort and confound individuals and organizations.

We have seen deep fakes, cyber extortion aided with AI tools, manipulation and the threat of job loss. On top of all these currently acknowledged risks, we have the elephant in the room that AI could become more intelligent and capable than humans and eventually enslave us. These known and unknown hazards cause us to be fearful of AI. This fear is both rational and irrational depending on its effect on our lives. There is a parallel between the fear of AI today and the fear of electricity several hundred years ago.

Concerns about AI outperforming and enslaving humanity have emerged. AI including the technology behind OpenAI’s ChatGPT can help or harm, and the fear we may feel as AI evolves is not unfounded. Many companies are taking stances against the use of AI including ChatGPT in their businesses. The concern has arisen in part due to intellectual property issues and the chance that AI could exploit our businesses and lives in unforeseen ways. This fear is rational, but AI can be used to harden and power business efficiency if appropriate controls are in place.

I have written before about the real dangers of AI, and the rising regulations most notably arising from the EU to address these dangers. Technology is being put in place to monitor videos and images and identify them as being AI generated to prevent deep fake fraud and manipulation. It is through a combination of regulation and technology that we can limit the harm AI can cause to us. In the meantime, we need to be mindful about our use of AI.

Recently, Sam Altman, the CEO of ChatGPT’s OpenAI spoke about the dangers of unregulated AI technology. AI can disrupt industry, our economy, the political landscape we live in and more. It is possible that AI could substantially upset how we organize our world and could harm vulnerable populations unfamiliar with the capabilities of AI. Our fear of AI running amok come from our understanding of the risk AI poses if left without controls and regulations and our misunderstanding of the way AI functions.

It is thought that Marry Shelly’s Frankenstein was written about the fear of electricity being added to residential and commercial locations. In the book, Frankenstein is brought to life using electricity, and this symbolized a real fear of electricity being around us in those days. In a similar way, AI is all around us and poses certain threats to our livelihood and safety. Electricity is dangerous without controls, so electrical codes, fire code and building code arose. Electricians are trained for years to ensure they can perform their jobs safely and building materials are engineered to handle the load electricity places on them. AI will be regulated and controlled in a similar fashion, and the fear that exists around it will be replaced with a healthy respect of the risk and a healthy desire for the rewards AI presents to us.

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