Innovation in Artificial Intelligence:Boon or Bane ?

Ranging from incremental enhancements to radical changes, technological innovation has heightened human experience in beautiful and graceful ways. Human civilizations have undergone remarkable changes in their dynamics as a result of new technological innovations. Artificial Intelligence is inarguably one of the most captivating innovations with diverse applications and far-reaching possibilities.

AI has already established supremacy over human experts in narrow application areas like driverless cars and certain areas of medical diagnosis. Increased use in these areas entails fewer road accidents, more accurate diagnosis, the discovery of many new therapies and pharmaceuticals, etc. However, in broad domains, there’s a magnified risk of unforeseen failure and misuse. There also exists the threat of an arms race prioritizing rapid technological advancement over its safety. No matter what, it is critical to program goals and ethical values into AI, ensuring that AI comprehends, adopts and retains human intent.

Advancement in AI experimentation makes it feasible to replace innumerable human jobs with machines. According to many economists, increasing automation will lead to enormous unemployment within even the next few decades.  It would be irresponsible to ignore these possibilities, and thus, we must take proactive measures to cushion negative developments. 

Countless AI researchers anticipate AI to supersede human intellect and control in all respects, thus embodying technological singularity. The goals of such AI can, in theory, take on any form and massively change or even end civilization. Because the capabilities of such AI are incomprehensible, the events beyond technological singularity are unpredictable and unfathomable.

With great power comes great responsibility. In itself, technology is just an instrument; what matters is how we utilize it. We must focus to practically bring about Friendly AI with adequately constrained behavior. To make us the masters of our own destiny, we must create an AI which empowers, not overpowers. 

Bibliography

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE. (2019, FEBRUARY 2019). Retrieved from WIKIPEDIA: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_intelligence

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND LIFE IN 2030. (2016, SEPTEMBER). https://ai100.stanford.edupp. 1-14.

TECHNOLOGICAL SINGULARITY. (2019, JANUARY 29). Retrieved from WIKIPEDIA: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technological_singularity