Matt | 26 February 2020

Living With Artificial Intelligence: How Do We Get It Right?

Artificial intelligence has been taking the world by storm in recent years. Every industry is beginning to embrace the many benefits that AI can bring, and many of us use the technology without even realising it. From home hubs and smart technology to self-driving cars; artificial intelligence is rapidly progressing. Organisations are opening up to the idea of AI and beginning to explore how it can help them grow and improve processes.

Because of the innovative and progressive nature of AI, it is an area that hasn’t been thoroughly explored before. This means there are few regulations in place and many questions about the morality and ethics behind the technology. So, how can firms, and society as a whole, looking to adopt AI ensure they get it right?

What Is Responsible Artificial Intelligence?

Responsible AI is a relatively new concept which businesses are adopting in a bid to get artificial intelligence right. It is the idea that the use of AI meets a number of criteria;

  • That artificial intelligence use is ethically sound and complies with any regulations that are in place.
  • The use of artificial intelligence is backed up by robust foundations of end to end governance.
  • Artificial intelligence is supported by performance indicators that address fairness and bias, robustness and security, and interpretability and explainability.

With so many companies beginning to use artificial intelligence to automate tasks that were once done by humans, it is vital that this is done responsibly. Everything from fraud detection to medical diagnosis can embrace AI and free up staff to focus on higher-level projects.

Artificial intelligence offers almost unlimited potential for businesses and consumers alike, and organisations in almost every sector are beginning to embrace the technologies. As more and more AI is used every day, it is vital that it is being used responsibly and ethically.

What Are The Dangers Of Artificial Intelligence?

Using artificial intelligence responsibly is so important because of the potential dangers the technology can bring. It is thought to be very unlikely that AI will ever exhibit human emotions such as love and hate, and also that the technology could ever become intentionally disruptive. Even so, experts are aware of a couple of potential risks to the rise in artificial intelligence use.

The first is that artificial intelligence is programmed to do something devastating. AI can be used to create autonomous weapons that are programmed to kill. If this technology should fall into the wrong hands, then it could lead to mass casualties. There is also a chance that this could lead to an artificial intelligence arms race or war between societies.

It is thought that this type of technology would be designed to be almost impossible to switch off, with the risk of humans losing control completely.

The second danger that AI can bring is that it is programmed to do something useful but develops a destructive method to reach its goals. This is a potential risk if the artificial intelligence goals are not fully aligned with our own. For example, if a self-driving car is programmed to reach a destination as quickly as possible, it might do this in a dangerous manner. The real dangers behind artificial intelligence are down to competence rather than malevolence. The way this technology is adopted and used by all has a huge impact on the risks they could present.

What Ethical Issues Come With Artificial Intelligence?

As well as potential dangers of artificial intelligence, there are also some ethical and moral impacts that must be considered. The top ethical issues of AI include;

  • Singularity

One of the main reasons that humans are at the top of the food chain is our ingenuity and intelligence. We are able to use our advantages over animals that are bigger, stronger and faster than us through the use of tools to control them. This creates a serious ethical question when it comes to AI, as many question what would happen if, one day, machines have this same advantage over humans. It isn’t enough to depend on pulling the plug on these machines, as an advanced technology will likely anticipate this move and act to defend itself.

  • Unemployment

As more and more tasks are becoming automated and handled by artificial intelligence, unemployment rates are likely to be affected. With the rise of customer service chatbots, self-driving vehicles and automated marketing tools, we could soon see many jobs become obsolete. AI tools have the ability to perform these jobs more accurately, faster and with less expense.

  • Humanity

Artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly skilled at imitating human conversation and relationships. It is becoming more and more frequent for us to interact with machines as if they are a human being. Humans are limited to the kindness and attention they can offer to another person, whereas artificial intelligence bots have unlimited resources for building meaningful relationships.

  • Robot Rights

Artificial intelligence systems are becoming more and more complex and life-like over time. Many of these technologies use a reward and aversion system where improved performance is reinforced through the use of a virtual reward. This leads to questions about whether a machine could be considered as suffering if it is given a negative input. If machines are considered entities that can feel, act and perceive like humans, then their legal status should also be considered.

How To Get Artificial Intelligence Right?

With many risks and dangers to consider, it is important to also keep in mind that overall AI means improved lives for everyone. The technology has vast potential, and responsible implementation is vital. In order to safely and appropriately work with artificial intelligence, a good level of understanding of the technology is needed.

Here at TSG Training, we offer our BSC Essentials in Artificial Intelligence course to help you understand everything you need to know about AI. The one day course covers everything from the basics of artificial intelligence and machine learning, to the benefits and challenges of these projects. It has been designed for anyone with an interest in artificial intelligence or need to implement it within an organisation.

If you want to find out more about our course and AI as a whole, then tune in to our free webinar recording. This 22-minute overview serves as a great introduction for those wanting to find out more about artificial intelligence, and what the future of humans and machines looks like.