Artificial Intelligence And Transforming Of Society
What helps Siri to answer any of our questions on an IPhone? What is that helps Google cars navigate through traffic? What enables a robot to play chess and beating humans consistently to a frustrating level? One aspect that is common in all three is the use of some intelligent machines to work and think like humans. This technology in common parlance is termed as Artificial Intelligence. Artificial intelligence is the development of computer systems and programs which can think and perform tasks like humans. Artificial intelligence is applied when a machine uses cognitive functions that is also a feature of human minds, such as speech recognition, learning, problem solving etc.
Historical perspective
History of Artificial intelligence can be traced back to Alan Turing’s theory of computation which gave insight that computers can simulate reasoning process. However, the real field of AI research started in a workshop at Dartmouth College in 1956. In middle 1960s American defense department started investing heavily on Artificial Intelligence. But there was more pressure inside US administration to fund on more productive projects as AI research did not provide any immediate result. This led to a phase of AI winter in 1980s, when it was difficult to get funding for AI research projects.
Recently when we have drastically improved computing and robotic technologies, resurgence of AI research is being witnessed in various domains like data mining, algorithms, and medical diagnosis etc. In 1997 a chess playing program named Deep blue defeated world chess champion Garry Kasparov. In 2011, IBM designed a question-answering system Watson which answers questions posed in natural language. In 2015 Alpha Go, a computer program which plays Game of Go became the first program to defeat a human Go player on 19*19 board. Whether it is Siri, OK Google, Alexa or Cortana, software giants are investing heavily on designing intelligent virtual assistants. Today AI is transforming almost every field which is linked with human life e.g. economy, military, health, education, security and ethics. Be it home appliances, health devices, industry 4.0 or Google cars, AI is swiftly penetrating into every domain linked with human life. As this technology is not yet mature and in a phase of development, its long term effect on the society is yet to be seen. Whether its positive effects outweigh the negative impacts? Will it make this planet more suitable to live or will it bring havoc? Should government and businesses go for speedy adoption of AI and autonomous systems? Throughout this essay, I will try to analyze and examine above questions. Let us first try to analyze the fruits it will bear to society.
How can AI Help the Society?
“Artificial intelligence is not a Man Vs Machine Saga; it’s in fact, Man with Machine synergy”- Sudipto Ghosh
“AI is on verge of making our life more productive and creative”- Bill Gates.
AI is not only about assistant and programming on games, it is much more pervasive and its applications to the society are too numerous. It will transform the society and it is already transforming it in various domains.
Early detection of diseases like cancer is possible using AI. Elliot Fishman, MD, a professor of radiology in Baltimore is trying to develop an AI program for early detection of pancreatic cancer. Moreover, better analysis of medical records and data management can avoid repetitive jobs which ensure that cardiologists and radiologists are relieved of other trivial tasks and engaged in complex cases where it need human intervention. Digital consultation, drug creation through clinical trials, health monitoring through wearable health trackers and precision medicine are the areas where AI can help enormously.
MOOCs (massive open online courses) are being used by many countries including India. Pearson Education Group argues that AI can be used mentoring students besides lecturing students through such online platforms. Several companies e.g. Carnegie Learning are developing intelligent instruction platforms to provide learning, feedbacks, identification of gaps in knowledge. It is possible to read expression on child’s face when s/he faces any difficulty. This helps in Differentiated and Individualized Learning. Further linguistic barriers can be resolved through an AI tool like Presentation Translator leading to universal access.
Industries are already transforming at high pace. Fourth Industrial revolution is on the verge and is going to change the way industries are perceived. Automation, use of 3D printing, data mining using big data analytics, internet of things, and virtual assistants is transforming industrial landscape. Walmart Is developing shelf scanning robots and robotic carts, while Amazon Go Is latest wave which rests on no check out requirements in retail stores. More and more use of AI will ensure more profits for enterprises.AI can also help in governance. Big Data analytics will help better data management and analysis to find gaps in income, health and education indicators and thereafter speedy and targeted resolution.AI is already helping to identify criminals and in investigation process using facial recognition tools. Precision Farming can be new milestone in farming after green revolution. Mahindra and Mahindra is working on self-driving tractors which can impact agriculture in a big way. AI can be immensely useful in early detection of Disasters and their mitigation. Many cutting edge solutions like AIDR an concern1 are already making their place in disaster management.
Further government can use AI in predictive maintenance of infrastructure. Proactive data gathering, metrics and images can help monitor health of public infrastructure. Such usage can help avoid derailment which our country is facing frequently. By proper data gathering and analysis and we can identify and track the infrastructure that needs replacement.AI can also transform modern warfare and security systems. Intelligent and unmanned systems, simulation and training, data analysis, information processing and command information warfare can intelligentize warfare and security. Such automated and intelligent unmanned warfare can drastically reduce the casualties and soften the difficult conditions in which personnel are placed. E.g. AI can suitably utilized in Siachin area to virtually demilitarize the area which can save billion dollars so to utilize in other productive sectors.AI can help us to better protect this planet. AI can help us in better environmental management and biodiversity protection through data analytics tools. E.g. an AI tool named “wild me” is using artificial intelligence in combating extinction of wildlife.
Threats of artificial intelligence
“I visualize a time when we will be to robots what dogs are to humans, and I am rooting for the machines.”-Claude Shannon
“The development of full Artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race”- Stephen Hawking.
Above quotes rightly signify the threats of AI. Let us analyse these threats in detail.AI can put a huge blow to employment generation. In 2013 an Oxford university study predicted that 50% of jobs may be replaced by machines provided the continued pace of automation. Elon Musk also commented that the danger of AI is much greater than danger of nuclear warheads. Already amazon and Walmart are going for zero Man power in retail shops by completely automating them. Further automation in industrial systems can drastically reduce jobs. Already America is suffering from unemployment problem which is reflected in President Trump’s policies.
Autonomous weapons are other worrying aspects of artificial intelligence. If these fell into wrong hands can cause mass casualties. Further these weapons are also very difficult to turn off which is even dangerous.
It is anticipated that AI will further intensify the divide between rich and poor and will enhance inequalities. Among business, it will be mostly used by software giants while simultaneously supplanting small and budding start-ups. Moreover, AI and similar technologies will be more accessible to rich as compared to poor thus widening the gulf between them further.
Another risk of AI is devaluation of humanity. This points out the fact that computers can never simulate human empathy. Computer programs will try to achieve same results however their ends may not be sensitive like that of human mind. Computer programs are deterministic while human minds are stochastic. Another risk of AI stems from ethical concerns. Is it ethically correct to develop equivalents of human intellect? Do our moral values allow this? Intelligence is natural gift, should we tamper with this natural order?
Next risk can be termed as existential risk. We all must have seen sci-fi movies like Terminator and Matrix, in which machine continuously improved themselves (which is technically referred to concept of singularity), to surpass human intelligence. This looks utopian as of now, but where technology turns out, we never know!!!Further advanced techniques like big data analytics have capability of gathering and processing of data in huge volumes. Hence not only it risks invasion of privacy, but data can be profiled for ulterior motives. Moreover, such data if falls into wrong hands can be highly detrimental to the interests of the nation.
This technology if not carefully planned it will widen the gulf between powerful and powerless. It can further impact political and social freedoms. Surveillance, intensification of disparities, are some of other issues raised with AI.
last but not the least, this technology is still not in a mature stage and hence risks of using this and unintended consequences cannot be denied. E.g. Google cars and auto pilot systems in automotive sectors are highly doubtful as far as their safety is concerned. Moreover, virtual assistants are believed to reduce the creativity and innovativeness of human brain and further pushing dehumanization of society.
Way forward
As we have seen artificial intelligence can be greatly beneficial to society, but it does not come without threats. So next important question becomes how should we move forward with artificial intelligence? Possible solutions are discussed in subsequent paragraphs.
Governments across the world should synchronize the rate of introduction of this technology with rate of skill development of its population. Otherwise introduction of AI without relevant human resource /skill development will create huge unemployment problem. No doubt introduction of AI will create another set of jobs; however, they will be requiring new skills for which work force has to gear up.As far as ethics are concerned, we certainly require code of ethics for further development in robotics, and related research. Also we require some international regulatory mechanism for introduction of AI in weapon systems used for warfare. Further all governments need to appoint task forces or committees to delve deeper into possible impacts of AI on society.
Also there is need of introduction of responsible AI, which asks for sufficient privacy and intellectual property related concerns. Also a data protection framework need to be adopted by national governments across the world. Also these need to be benchmarked with international standards.
Another important aspect to encourage corporates using or developing AI to adhere to international standards and code of ethics. Moreover, they can be encouraged to participate in development of these standards.
As NITI ayog has stressed that we should move toward an accountable and secure AI. Every accident in AI need to be properly investigated, and suitable measures to be adopted thereafter. We can learn from Airline industries in this regard which are more or less safe systems as of now. Also there is need to develop mechanisms for apportionment of damages and fixation of liabilities.
Conclusion
We have always embraced positive technological changes since beginning of humanity. This is the reason we have move out of dark ages into an advanced technological age. But before adopting any of the technology it is very important that we ensure that technology will bring out positive changes for the society and eventually for humanity. At this particular moment we are not sure where future of humanity lies with artificial intelligence. Hence a lot of thought should be given and careful analysis need to be done before introducing AI hastily in any of the domains. Further it is very necessary to bring legal and ethical framework to mitigate the challenges associated with AI. It is very necessary to resolve some socio-economic and ethical concerns AI brings in order to reap good results from this technology to our society.
