Our very own prime minister has positioned himself as the leading force in the condemnation of AI, Sunak cites the risk to the nation’s security, and we are told he is considering banning Chinese officials from the upcoming AI summit.
It all feels very Terminator….
What is the truth, should we limit the advances in AI, or should we embrace them?
Experts point to AGI (Advanced General Intelligence) as the most concerning hypothetical development in AI. Definitions of AGI differ, however in its simplest terms it is the ability for AI to perform a task at a human level or above. Thereby AGI would in theory be able to complete any human task more expertly than we can.
Why should the competency of AI worry us? Simply, paranoia, if AI is better at completing a task, then what if that task were spying or evading control.
There are those like William Daley, chief scientist at Nvida who argue that ‘uncontrollable artificial intelligence is science fiction and not a reality’ He states that ‘humans will always decide how much decision-making power to cede to AI’
Others, point to the psychological effect of AI, the workers who fear losing their jobs, the uneasy feeling on human creativity and inventiveness.
In March of this year Goldman Sachs published a report that suggested AI could replace in excess of 300 million full-time jobs. Last year PWCs annual global workforce survey revealed that one third of respondents were worried about the prospect of losing their jobs to technology.
As worrying as the advances in AI are, this is about trust. Rather than the glass being half empty, it is taking the half full approach and looking at the advantages and empowerment that technology can deliver.
Of course, technology can automate and streamline business practises. But this has been going on since the start of the industrial revolution, think Smith and 10 workers producing 48,000 pins a day if specialized tasks were assigned to them.
The answer to concerns about AI isn’t putting development on hold, it is for employers to embrace technology and empower their employees with a new set of skills so that they can progress and benefit from incredible changes that AI will deliver.
