Artificial Intelligence
Introduction
The introduction of new technology and Artificial Intelligence have made drastic impacts on our society. There are many different opinions on it, and how beneficial (or not) it has been in society. I definitely think there are a lot of pros and cons to Artificial Intelligence, and overall, I mostly agree with Dr. Jay Richards that smart machines will not take over our jobs. I think it definitely can, and has, taken away a lot of jobs and displaced employees, but I do not believe that it will take over and take away every single human job.
Are Humans Really at Stake?
New technology and AI has been at the forefront of people’s minds in the past 10 years or so. The way it has evolved from then to now has shaped the way our economy operates and has shifted into more technology-friendly practices. I think the world has shifted a lot of its view on technology, so many jobs are actually looking for new technology practices to emerge. It’s easy to get nervous about the emergence and growth of Artificial Intelligence, especially stepping into the workforce. New technology has been recently taking away a ton of jobs and displacing people after doing and completing tasks without human interference. As much as these new platforms of Artificial Intelligence can efficiently perform human jobs, I do not think we are really at stake for losing our jobs. Artificial Intelligence will not take over jobs, or at least any time in this century, and one reason is because we have not fully developed our understanding of it. AI is such a complex feature, that many of the entrepreneurs and creators of this technology still do not have full knowledge on this kind of advanced technology. Definitely not enough to produce Smart Machines that can think, act, and talk like humans interactively. It has taken decades to even develop the beginning stages of Artificial Intelligence, and since it is so new, there is still so much more to learn. I know it can be a stretch speaking for business owners, but these entrepreneurs of technology are the ones creating AI, so ultimately, they will always have something to work for. Even if we continue to progress with AI, we will constantly need workers that know how to make and fix technology the way that it is needed for society. Entrepreneurs want to know and learn more about these machines, but I do think we are very far from any type of job takeover.
How Can We Prevent AI Getting to the Point of Takeover?
In all honesty, I think we humans and developers of technology have put a little bit too much trust in technology and rely on it too much. I believe that AI is only as dangerous as you allow it to be, and the way to stop it getting to the point of taking over the job industry is to stop relying so heavily on it. Technology does not and will not solve every single problem we have. I just believe that there are certain jobs and tasks within those jobs that need human intervention, and only human critical thinking skills can solve them. An example of this is anything in the medical field that involves human-on-human contact with each other. This can be as simple as a nurse having the empathy to have hard conversations with patients to surgeons working on human bodies. Any type of Smart Machine cannot emulate either of these things the way that humans are able to. Personally, I wouldn’t want or trust a Smart Machine to do the things that humans do in the medical field. This is just one example, but there are many other similar ideas where Smart Machines just don’t have the mental capacity like humans to perform certain jobs. Allowing ourselves to accept that there are a ton of jobs that only humans can perform because of the skills that we possess is important for entrepreneurs who are creating AI technologies to understand.
Conclusion
It is important to understand Artificial Intelligence, and its impacts on society as a whole. It has led to displacement in certain jobs and less human interaction in the workforce, but saying that it will take over all jobs is an extreme that I just do not think will happen. AI is such a new and advanced concept that I do not think has the ability to emulate human interaction the way that humans can in-person. It is also highly unlikely that entrepreneurs and business owners will allow their businesses to fall to technology and get them out of jobs. I think that developing new technology is good and there are so many positives to it, but I do not think we need to rely so much on it.