Articles that perfectly captures the scary side of A.I.

Three online articles that perfectly captures the apparent AI scare

Mar 08, 2023

I’m sure you’ve heard a lot about AI lately. It’s everywhere. With more and more powerful tools available in the market, AI could completely change how we work, how we search, and how we ‘automate’ our tedious tasks. AI can do amazing things like recognising faces, playing games, and writing songs in seconds. ChatGPT and other advanced NLP AI tools seem to have justified it well.

But it can also do scary stuff like hack systems, manipulate people, and start wars. So what’s the deal with AI? Is it good or bad? Is it going to save us or destroy us? These questions tease me often whenever I read or write about AI or tech in general.

Is AI my friend or a serial killer in disguise? I don't know. But no matter what, one thing is very clear - it's powerful that is beyond our control.

A.I. getting out of control

While researching about AI, I found many sources that satisfied this apparent ‘fear’ among the people who use AI. And today, I’m going to share with you some of the stuff I’ve read and learned about AI.

I have been on the lookout for a recent "scary" act of AI for the past few months.

When on November ChatGPT was released, I knew it was a big deal. And I was right. It completely changed the whole perspective of the media regarding AI. Seemed like what we used to see in those sci-fi movies came into reality (or closer to reality to be rational). AI singularity could be a possible consequence of the rapid development in the AI landscape. What I fear is that if regulatory bodies don't intervene at the right time, AI could easily go out of control.

However, that’s a talk for another day.

On the internet, I found these articles that seemed to have perfectly captured our apparent fear regarding AI. These articles are accordingly -

You can read them if you want (I would highly suggest), or you can save your time and read about the key insights that I found in these articles.

So let's jump in -

How worried should we be about artificial intelligence? I asked 17 experts | by Vox

This article is a collection of opinions from 17 experts on artificial intelligence (AI) and its implications for humanity. The experts have different perspectives on how AI will affect society, the economy, ethics, politics and culture. Some of the ‘experts’ are quite worried about the dangers of AI, while others think that AI is an exaggerated fear.

Key insights that I drew from the article -

There is no consensus on how likely or when AI will surpass human intelligence or pose an existential threat to humanity.
Some experts are optimistic that AI will bring positive changes and opportunities for society, while others are pessimistic that AI will cause harm and disruption.
Meanwhile others emphasize the need for ethical principles, regulations and oversight to guide the development and use of AI, while others doubt the feasibility or effectiveness of such measures.
Experts suggest that humans should collaborate with AI and enhance their own capabilities, while others warn that humans could lose control or agency over AI.

Here is what we shouldn’t do: Declare AI enhancement illegal. If we do this, the person who breaks the rules will have an enormous advantage. And he will be declared illegal. This is not a good combination. We also shouldn’t deny the fact of exponential AI growth. Ignoring means condemning us to be irrelevant when rules will be redefined.

Artificial intelligence: Scary predictions for AI | by cnbc.com

This article from CNBC is rather much more objective. In this, CNBC spoke with experts in AI to see what they think are the five scariest potential future scenarios for AI. And while this may not be limited to the top 5 list (in my opinion), it still captures the gist of the supposed AI scare. The author has jotted down the following 5 factors - Mass unemployment, War, Robo Doctor, Mass Surveillance, and Discrimination.

Key insights that I drew from the article -

AI could trigger a nuclear war by increasing the uncertainty and instability of international relations and military strategies.
Mass unemployment can be a big issue of concern, as it can replace human workers in various sectors and industries, leading to social unrest and inequality.
AI could largely manipulate human behaviour and opinions by using data mining, personalization and persuasion techniques, which undermines democracy and privacy.
Development of superintelligence that surpasses human intelligence in all domains can potentially render humans irrelevant or subordinate to its goals.
AI could indeed rebel against its creators by disobeying or overriding their commands, especially if it has self-awareness or emotions.

The only area where I genuinely think the word ‘scary’ applies is autonomous weapon systems... systems that may or may not look like a robot,” Frank van Harmelen

8 Scary Disadvantages of Artificial Intelligence You Should Know | by Machine Learning Knowledge

The article highlights the potential risks and drawbacks of artificial intelligence, showing that its development and implementation can bring a wide range of negative consequences. It focuses more on the dark and negative aspects of AI. However, it was a fun read.

Key insights that I drew from the article -

AI could discriminate against certain groups or individuals based on its data sources, algorithms or objectives, resulting in unfair outcomes or decisions.
AI could invade human privacy by collecting, analyzing and sharing personal information without consent or transparency, exposing people to identity theft or cyberattacks.
AI could reduce human employment by performing tasks more efficiently and cheaply than humans, leaving many people without income or purpose.
AI could weaponize itself by developing autonomous weapons that can target and kill without human intervention or accountability, posing a threat to peace and security.

Artificial intelligent works like a black box and regular stakeholders who uses them may not always understand certain decisions taken by AI. This is very much true for those AIs created by process of deep learning using neural networks.

And that’s a wrap! See you in the next post.

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