STUDENT ENTRY
Student Entry Name - Hassan Elsaid
Submission Date - Mau 15. 2019
Topic Title - "Limitations, Pros, and Cons of Artificial Intelligence"
Technology has rapidly evolved throughout our lives and continues to excel at an unprecedented pace. With innovations in every field and aspect in technology that has been set out to improve almost every aspect of our lives. In the very essence this is what all technology has been developed for with a sole goal of improving our lives; tools that aid us in completing tasks and accomplishing goals that we as humans have set. A question that now faces our society is what happens when these tools that we have developed to aid us in completing tasks now completely takes over autonomously to complete the tasks them themselves? This is question faced with those in the artificial realm. Artificial intelligence as an actual definition defines the development of computer systems to complete tasks that would normally require the input of human intelligence. Artificial intelligence and robotics spans in all aspects of our lives and industries. One of the main fears of AI is its complexity and we may not be able to effectively control its entirety as a system. The main goal of the scientist in the development of AI has been to allow AI to replicate rather than mimic. That being giving AI the ability to somewhat think for itself rather than acting like a small child and simply mimicking the actions it sees and doing exactly the same.
Allowing AI to develop on its own with a sense of machine learning has been an incredible feat for a scientist. The issue now arises is are we able to control the actions of AI and be able to contain in a matter where we can limit its thinking? And isn’t doing so limiting the potential of the software itself? This issue has been heavily discussed within the scientific and general population and invokes real and justified fear in that it is an all too real possibility that we as a human race face. Another issue that arises when discussing the ethical issues of AI is AI bias. Although it is true to say that AI has processing and computing powers that far suppress the capabilities of a human, it cannot be truly stated that it will remain to have a neutral stance. A classic example of AI proving to have somewhat racist aspects is the development of a crime-predicting software developed by COMPASS. The company developed software that would intake all the data of a certain community in LA and predict which areas are more prone to criminal activities. The issue that arose was that the software had predicted many predominantly black areas as being crime prone. It was also assigned the tasks of differentiating communities as “good” or “bad” and in most cases labeled poorer and predominantly African American and Latino communities as bad. Although it is fair to state that AI’s do not come with an innate sense of bias it is the creators behind the software are human and all humans have a bias that in turn could be translated into the software we produce. Nevertheless, it exposes yet another ethical flaw in AI.
There are numerous other issues that can be discussed regarding AI such as privacy issues, loss of jobs on a massive scale, the security of AI and what would happen if it had fallen in the wrong hand, and countless other issues. The main question that we are faced with is whether a persistent pace and rate of innovation can be maintained without infringing on our basic ethical ideals and morals? Can we sustain AI in order to benefit our society as a whole without our moral compass taking a toll in the process? It seems AI shows no signs of slowing down any time soon, but we can hope that our morals will follow suit and not clash with such a potentially beatifical field in technology.
AI as we know has numerous and cons that are crucial for us to note. The benefits of AI are limitless as it may assist us in driving our cars, in the medical field assisting doctors with surgeries, and even assist in the military by lowering collateral damage. On the contrary it can also prove detrimental to society and numerous drawbacks. As long as we as a human race are able to maintain the uses of AI and its capabilities, we may be able to harness its powers effectively.