A couple of days ago i stumbled on a video on YouTube from the BBC Archive Channel, from 1966, in which journalists asked pupils from different colleges across England to predict how life will be like in 2000. The different predictions that this kids made clearly said a lot about their sense of awareness of the world surrounding them. They spoke a lot about prospects of an eventual atomic warfare and our endlessly growing population and the various problems that may come with it. But one prediction stood out for me.
“I don't think there is going to be atomic warfare, but i think there is going to be all this automation. People are gonna be out of work in a great population and i think something has to be done about it”
Those are the words of a schooler and i think no better choice of words could have been made.
Now, to be fair, when 2000 turned around his prediction turned out to be quite incorrect. Because in 2000 the global economy was growing and getting better, growing slowly but growing nevertheless. According to The United Nations' Department of Economic and Social Affairs, at the beginning of 2000, was in better shape than the previous year. And as of the automation he was just partially right. In the 2000s we all witnessed a tremendous leap in how we interact with computers and it was equally in this decade that we witnessed the launch of social medias like Facebook and Twitter. But concerning the raw automation coming after people's jobs, nothing big happened or was created that wasn't already existing before. Cars were already been mounted by machines back then. And other machines like the TBM (Tunnel boring machine) were already widely used.
Fast forward to 2024 and the kid's prediction is starting to turn true. All because of two words Artificial Intelligence.
In the recent years AI has taken the spotlight. It's the new gold. Everyone wants to harness and exploit its powers. AI is everywhere now and the truth is, the fundamentals of AI and machine learning actually date back to 1951. That is when the first primitive form of AI, checkers bot were created by Christopher Strachey from the University of Manchester in England.
But long past are the days when the words Artificial Intelligence were only rarely used. Today we want to examine all the doors that AI opened for us and the way it is changing our society. But we equally want to present the other side of the picture. What would be the worst case scenario if AI keeps crawling unregulated and free?
Part I : Keep your friends close…
(The Pros of AI)
There is no denying it, some of the convenient and useful applications of AI include the development of autonomous vehicles, facial recognition software, virtual assistants like Alexa, Siri and a huge array of industrial applications in all industries from farming to healthcare to gaming. In contrast to a human, AI makes way less errors and isn't prone to fatigue. Let's take a look at some exemples,
Healthcare :
In healthcare, AI is revolutionizing diagnosis and treatment. AI algorithms can analyze medical images with remarkable accuracy, identifying abnormalities that might escape the human eye. For instance, AI systems have shown proficiency in detecting early signs of diseases such as cancer and diabetic retinopathy. Moreover, AI-powered tools assist in personalized medicine, tailoring treatments to individual patients based on their genetic information and health history.
Transportation :
The transportation sector is also experiencing a radical transformation. Self-driving cars, powered by AI, promise to reduce traffic accidents, optimize traffic flow, and provide mobility solutions for those unable to drive. Companies like Tesla and Waymo are at the forefront of this innovation, testing autonomous vehicles that could one day become the norm on our roads.
Finance :
In finance, AI algorithms are revolutionizing how investments are managed. Robo-advisors use complex algorithms to create and manage investment portfolios, offering personalized financial advice at a fraction of the cost of traditional financial advisors. Additionally, AI helps in fraud detection by analyzing transaction patterns and identifying anomalies that suggest fraudulent activity.
Daily life :
On a more personal level, AI enhances our daily lives through smart home devices, virtual assistants, and personalized recommendations. Services like Netflix and Spotify use AI to analyze our preferences and suggest content that aligns with our tastes, making entertainment more enjoyable and tailored to individual preferences.
In a nutshell, we will be lying to ourselves if we said that AI is just bad and hasn't impacted our lives in a meaningful positive way. You are certainly reading this article because it was recommended to you by an Algorithm (AI) that learned what you like and what you dislike. And some of you are reading this on an iPhone that you unlocked using Face ID and AI is a pivotal element in Face ID.
Part II : …but your enemies even closer.
(Cons of AI)
We opened Pandora's box, now we have to deal with it.
Job Displacement :
Let me ask you a quick question;
Let's say you are working a project and you need a beautiful of an Island to advertise your project but you don't have the legal rights necessary to use the image you want. Would you rather risk using the copyrighted image from a professional photographer or just enter a prompt in an AI image generator and get an image just as good and just as beautiful?
That is the dilemna we are currently faced with. Certain jobs ( especially the more artistic jobs) are in danger. No one will ever hire a professional writer for his movie if they know there's an AI somewhere that can could perhaps generate an even better script way faster.
That was one one of the main points causing division, when The Writer's Guild of America (WGA) striked last year. Their livelihood was on the frontline.
Let's be real, some uses of AI are unlikely to impact human jobs. For example, the image processing AI in new cars which allows for automatic braking in the event of a potential crash. That's not replacing a job
But if we start turning to AI for it to do things that professionals previously did to earn a living we will send a big chunk of people in the streets.
Lack of creativity :
AI bases its decisions on what has happened in the past. By definition then, it's not well suited to coming up with new or innovative ways to look at problems or situations. Now in many ways, the past is a very good guide as to what might happen in the future, but it isn’t going to be perfect.There’s always the potential for a never-before-seen variable which sits outside the range of expected outcomes.
Because of this, AI works very well for doing the ‘grunt work’ while keeping the overall strategy decisions and ideas to the human mind.
From an investment perspective, the way we implement this is by having our financial analysts come up with an investment thesis and strategy, and then have our AI take care of the implementation of that strategy.
We still need to tell our AI which datasets to look at in order to get the desired outcome for our clients. We can’t simply say “go generate returns.” We need to provide an investment universe for the AI to look at, and then give parameters on which data points make a ‘good’ investment within the given strategy.
Ethical dilemmas :
AI is purely logical. It makes decisions based on preset parameters that leave little room for nuance and emotion. In many cases this is a positive, as these fixed rules are part of what allows it to analyze and predict huge amounts of data.
In turn though, it makes it very difficult to incorporate areas such as ethics and morality into the algorithm. The output of the algorithm is only as good as the parameters which its creators set, meaning there is room for potential bias within the AI itself.
Imagine, for example, the case of an autonomous vehicle, which gets into a potential road traffic accident situation, where it must choose between driving off a cliff or hitting a pedestrian. As a human driver in that situation, our instincts will take over. Those instincts will be based on our own personal background and history, with no time for conscious thought on the best course of action.
For AI, that decision will be a logical one based on what the algorithm has been programmed to do in an emergency situation. It’s easy to see how this can become a very challenging problem to address.
In conclusions AI still has a lot to learn (literally) before it becomes the ideal tool for everyone or else we will need to regulate it and set restrictions to avoid the worst case scenario.
Thank you for reading