What are the pros and cons of AI?

Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk have been debating about the future of artificial intelligence (AI) for quite some time. Last month they continued the conversation by making their debate public. During a Q&A session with Nevada’s governor Brian Sandoval, Elon made a few statements about the dangers of AI.

Tesla’s CEO said the government might have to find a way to regulate AI before it is too late. The next day Mark Zuckerberg wrote a post expressing disagreement with Elon’s views on AI. Real life Tony Stark did not hold back and tweeted that Mark’s views on AI are “limited.” Elon even tried to steal the show from President Trump boldly stating unregulated AI is more dangerous than North Korea. The ongoing debate between two of the most notable people in technology sparked our interest, so we put the popcorn aside and decided to dig a little bit deeper and determine the pros and cons of artificial intelligence.

Pros of Artificial Intelligence

Early diagnosis disease

Advancement in artificial intelligence will one day allow us to diagnose diseases earlier than we can right now correctly. Illnesses have a better chance to be successfully treated when discovered early. This will surely have a positive impact on the human lifespan. Living longer is always welcome, thank you AI!

Driverless car

Another positive is the fact that driverless cars are here to stay. Sooner than later, they will become available for the masses, and our lives will be in the hands of AI powered vehicles. It’s not a secret 20-50 million are injured or disabled every year in car accidents, and nearly 1.5 million people lose their lives. To put this into perspective, the yearly life loss in car accidents exceeds approximately six times the total amount of individuals who died in terrorist attacks since 1980. AI will hopefully bring a well-needed improvement!

Voice operated assistants

The advancement in artificial intelligence will soon change our daily routines too. For kids lucky to be born in the western world, it will be normal to have a voice operated assistant at home. Children will no longer have to be tall enough to switch the lights off, they will be able to achieve the same result by giving a voice order to the home voice enabled assistant, or they may be able to do it from an app on their smartphone or a tablet. Voice enabled smartphone and home assistants will continue to develop and will play a significant part of our future.

Cons of Artificial Intelligence

Robots vs humans

We are already starting to see some scary signs of overdeveloped artificial intelligence. Imagine if scientists and engineers combine their powers and one day they manage to create a robot who is ten times better football player than Tom Brady, this would be devastating as it would ruin the game. Something similar happened a few days ago when Elon Musk’s OpenAI managed to beat some of the best ‘Dota 2’ players in the world. Tesla’s CEO backed self-learning AI made a top Dota 2 player in the world literally give up. The human was not even close to beating the bot!

Job automation

While AI ruining your favorite video game or sport may not sound as an existential threat, Elon Musk warned about other potential dangers that unregulated AI may hide. Job automation will increase the levels of unskilled unemployment. Jobs are already being affected as industries such as retail and customer service have taken multiple hits over the last few years. There are hundreds of thousands of Lyft and Uber drivers who may one day end up losing their jobs to driverless cars. Skilled workers’ jobs might be in danger too; AI may lead to fewer people needed in law, healthcare and finance.

Security issues

Security is the next issue, your life and your family’s lives will depend on the stability of software that runs on your car. Getting from point A to point B will be easy thanks to AI, but relying on a driverless machine to keep you alive sound scary! The meaning of ‘crash in the system’ may get much more literal than we want it to be!

AI powered products will become a constant part of your lives

The fact that almost every major technology conglomerate is investing heavily into developing products that will require some AI is proving that eventually, AI powered products will become a constant part of your lives. However, you need to remember that tabloids are exaggerating, robots are most likely not going to take us over, or at least not the way you would see it happening in a sci-fi movie. AI will make our lives easier, but will also make us more deepened on technology as machines will be better at things than we are.

We believe the pros are more than the cons, but we also suggest governments start paying more attention to regulating the industry. When you hear one of the most influential men in the tech industry say AI might one day be able to develop and distribute fake content so powerful to start a war, you need to make a note and have a plan how not to let such thing happen. AI powered machines will one day be able to get us from point A to point B, and it is important to enforce boundaries that would make the journey enjoyable and safe for everyone.