1. Artificial Intelligence and Its Implications On the Future of Humanity
Science, Technology, and Society
Jack MacPhee
How AI Affects Us Already
Popular Culture and AI
AI Impact on Jobs
Movies and other forms of entertainment like to depict artificial intelligence as a means of humanity’s demise. Films like Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) deal with an artificially intelligent computer, the “HAL 9000” (pictured below) turning on and killing the crew of a spaceship which it was supposed to aid and protect. This idea that AI could become sentient and turn against humans is, understandably, making many apprehensive about the furthering of this field. Despite this stigma AI has in popular culture, experts agree that anything similar to scenario like that is way far down the road.
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AI can already be found all around us. Millions of people worldwide are familiar with Apple’s Siri and Amazon’s Alexa. These are both examples of artificial intelligence that many interact with on a daily basis. Other forms of AI include suggestive typing and search engine suggestions, behavioral algorithms, as well as self-operating motor vehicles with the ability to stop and start themselves accordingly. These examples may make artificial intelligence seem like a brilliant invention, which it is. The ability to create artificial intelligence is exclusively a human gift. No other species has the capacity to create anything this advanced, as far as we know. That said, there are different levels and types of AI. Most companies today label AI as anything that responds to user behavior based on algorithms or pre-existing input from the creator. True AI is something that can learn and develop on its own. These are the artificially intelligent systems typically shown in movies, like the HAL 9000 computer (Right).
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A study done by researchers Carl Frey and Michael Osborne of Oxford University in 2013 estimated that as many as 47% of U.S. jobs could be replaced by systems like AI and robots by the year The chart above illustrates which jobs are most at risk of being taken from working Americans in that 20 year span, according to the study. As is shown by the figure, Telemarketers, accountants, and those whom work closely with technology will be most at risk of having their jobs replaced by robotics and AI.
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Where AI Is Headed
Medicine
The fields of medicine and content creation are just a few examples of new ways AI may soon be affecting the world around us. The possibilities and applications of this technology are boundless. With new advances come new applications. For example, as we continue to perfect facial recognition, we could soon see hard copies of our identification and drivers licenses done away with. True AI and deep learning could even be integrated into our smartphones in the near future. Whether it takes over the world or not, AI will still be quite a sight to behold over the coming years.
Content Creation
“2018 will be the year AI becomes real for medicine. By the end of next year, I think around half of leading healthcare systems will have adopted some form of AI within their diagnostic groups. In 2018, we’ll begin the adoption of a technology that may truly transform the way providers work, and the way patients experience healthcare, on a global scale.”
– Mark Michalski, executive director, Massachusetts General Hospital
“Given the rapid pace of research, I expect AI to be able to create new personalized media, such as music according to your taste. Imagine a future music service that doesn’t just play existing songs you might like, but continually generates new songs just for you.”
– Jan Kautz, senior director of Visual Computing and Machine Learning Research, NVIDIA