Robots and self-driving cars, intelligent glasses: what can we expect when artificial intelligence (AI) IRL? Blessing or curse, we wait and see. This is both an exciting and terrifying phase in AI development, with the industry moving forward without stringent regulation. The release of ChatGPT has given us a great and powerful AI tool, which most of us never thought to be this advanced. There are so many ethical questions that arise aside from the fact our jobs will be taken over by robots soon. More significantly, however, even if AI proceeds to have a destructive influence on job development and displacement in the short run (and it will not for reasons that I clarify later), we should remember that simultaneously artificial intelligence could also be used for incredible medical technology or educational advances which would dramatically improve our quality of life.
Self-Driving Cars
Self-driving cars used to be the stuff of science fiction. These are driver+intervention-free vehicles, equipped with advanced AI-backed algorithms and lidar sensors to smartly move through roads & traffic.
Potential Benefits:-
- Safety: Less risk of errors could mean fewer mishaps.
- Efficiency: Better driving patterns, which in turn would decrease traffic congestion.
- Convenient: Gives mobility to people who are too old, sick, or disabled to drive themselves.
Harms:
- Employment & Transit Sectors Job Loss: The greatest and most obvious reduction in the number of people necessary to drive cars results from mass unemployment within transportation industries.
- Ethical Dilemmas: Making wise & sane decisions during an unavoidable accident is still a bone of contention.
- Safety: High risk due to hacking and abuse.
Google has discontinued Google Glass since 2017, but in 2019, it unveiled the second-generation product called Google Glass Enterprise Edition 2. Google is trying to help us make the right choices in a complex and risky world with its upcoming smart glasses by giving our real-time information and AR experiences.
Possible Advantages:
- Higher Productivity: The user can easily optimize the productivity of overall staff by viewing real instant data and insights.
- Safety: Augmented reality can offer safety information in dangerous environments.
- Convenient: Fits easily into your daily routine.
However, there are concerns like:
- Privacy: Continuous recording and data collection may violate personal privacy.
- Distraction: Depending on the type and amount of augmented information provided, situational awareness can be decreased due to reliance.
- Long-Term Health: Prolonged use may have potential impacts on vision and cognitive function.
Siri and Google Assistant are our virtual assistants which provide us answers to pretty much everything we ask in a blink of an eye. They are also able to accomplish things on our tech devices for us. Which begs the question, just how far can we go with this?
Benefits:
- Ease of Use: Automation means that repetitive tasks are done without any effort or time on our part.
- Function: Helps those who are unable to interact with technology due to a disability.
- Customization: Response to user preference.
Issues:
- Dependence: Relying too much on AI for even trivial tasks could dull the mind just like how calculators made mental arithmetic a thing of the past.
- Data Security: A wide range of data agglomeration can bring potential threats and misuse.
- Bias: AI algorithms may also reflect and extend the biases present in data.
Coated with a material that tries to mimic human skin tissue and other intrinsic-human traits, might there come a time when robots are passed off as humans and vice versa?
Benefits:
- Assistive Labour: Robots can do repetitive and hazardous tasks, hence it improves safety as well productivity.
- Healthcare: Robotic nannies for elderly and infirm people helping them with daily activities.
- Preventing Loneliness: Social robots offer companionship over time, reducing the risk of being lonely.
Ethical Concerns:
- Ethically: The deep integration of humans and robots has serious implications.
- Automation: It may also cause massive job displacement in many sectors.
- Security Risks: With advanced robots in the wrong hands, they could be used for nefarious reasons if proper regulations are not implemented as soon as needed.
Robot Pets
Remember Aibo, the robot dog by Sony? In other words, his progeny might just catch on with pet aficionados – especially those who are really not too keen on some of the drawbacks associated with owning one.