Blog 9: The Age of AI

  Over the past few years, artificial intelligence (AI) technology has become a more integral part of society and our everyday lives. While AI is still developing, it is expected to revolutionize the world soon, bringing with it opportunities for social and economic development.

So, how does AI work? AI programs learn from the input received. From these inputs, the program develops and improves its own algorithm. Essentially, it mimics humans by learning the rules of a given task as it goes. Through computer science programming, AI can imitate human actions and thoughts by analyzing data. This data enables AI to learn numerous tasks and solve or anticipate problems.

                                                                             

I was surprised to hear about how artificial intelligence was able to beat a world champion at a board game. This happened with the world's most complex board game, Go, which has more possible moves than there are atoms in the universe. Go, all about strategy, was invented in 2300 BCE by Emperor Yao to teach his son discipline, concentration, and balance. In 2016, in Seoul, South Korea, the match between Go world champion Lee Sedol and Google's AI program AlphaGo answered the question: can a machine overtake human intelligence? AlphaGo was designed to mimic the neural networks of the human brain. It functioned by being fed various Go games from which it studied and learned to develop its own moves. During the match, AlphaGo used creative moves that even humans had never thought of before. In the end, AlphaGo won four games and Lee Sedol won one. This was a monumental moment because it indicated that one type of intelligence could beat another, further pushing the idea that artificial intelligence's ability to collect vast amounts of data surpassed that of a normal human.

Even with all the advantages that artificial programs can bring, there are still many negative implications of integrating this type of technology in our society. One of the biggest selling factors of AI is that it can cut costs for businesses because it can do jobs that would normally require multiple people but it does it quicker and more effectively. This can obviously have bad outcomes for many blue collar workers whose jobs have the potential to be overtaken by AI. I was really alarmed to find out that it is suspected that artificial intelligence may take over roughly 50% of the jobs we see today. This is a scary statistic because these are people's real jobs that pay their bills and provide for their families. One occupation that I could think of that may be affected in the future is truck drivers. Truck drivers are used to transport goods for businesses all over the country. However, with self-driving trucks becoming more and more popular, these people may find themselves without a job. The appeal to self-driving trucks comes from companies eager to cut costs and maximize efficiency like moving freight 24/7. 

As with most other innovative ideas and inventions, it will be interesting to see the sustainability of this new phenomenon - Artificial Intelligence. How will it separate or integrate society? How will it impact careers and financial stability? What types of advantages will AI create? We will need to be prepared for this ride and make every attempt to be as knowledgeable as possible! According to the video, automation will impact every facet of the economy. As the world is re-imagined, we may also witness another separation among men and women, which is something that was surprising. While businesses are seeking more ways to do the same work with more efficiency, this could mean employing less people and relying more on robotics and automation. Not only will females be more at risk of losing clerical type jobs, but lower to upper middle class people are also at risk of losing employment - especially those that may work in production or middle management positions. Those with the power and revenue are expected to remain on top as they are the decision makers.

For me, the biggest take away was the idea of "mining" our lives associated with artificial intelligence. Sometimes, we are carefree when we do anything online - using different search engines, making purchases, etc. Although we do hear about our digital footprint and how monitoring our activities could impact our privacy and identity, I don't believe we take it as seriously as it can be. There are predictions about our future in terms of careers, economic earnings, etc. - this makes it real because we are giving "permission" to be monitored every minute of every day! We have to be aware of the manipulation that is made possible by AI and learn how to navigate as it continues to develop and impact our society - financially, socially, politically, etc. Recognizing our power as consumers and understanding laws in place to protect our rights and identity will be key in our survival and co-existence with AI.