If there was ever a divisive topic, the true marmite of the modern world, everyone has an opinion on AI.
On the one hand, we have the proponents, the champions who hail it as the best new thing since sliced bread. On the other, the doom merchants, the glums who believe that the slightest suggestion of AI will bring the end of the world crashing down on us.
They are both so wrong.
The fear in our minds
We humans are frightened of what we can’t control, and what we can’t control includes things we don’t understand. There is a great deal of misunderstanding about AI.
For centuries, we have believed in the concept of truth.
AI is already interfering with that perception. We look on the internet and don’t know what to believe.
- We disbelieve the news.
- If the pictures are real or AI or deepfake
- Which are the real conspiracy theories
We literally cannot believe our eyes anymore.
Our fight-and-flight programming is out of date. Drones are whisking around the skies, leaving trails of death and destruction. We have watched Terminator and use that as a baseline for the future.
We feel safe with the familiar. Change is scary.
AI is bringing change. Fast.
The result of that is anxiety. A massively anxious human race. When we don’t understand the changes that are happening, we fear we will not be able to cope. And that is when people become anxious and scared.
The fact-based fears
Layoffs are happening worldwide. Job losses are very real and leave people in and out of work worried about how they will pay their mortgages and feed their children.
AI is taking their jobs.
Machines are going to do things cheaper and better than humans.
It isn’t only the financial aspect that is a threat. There are familiar routines, a purpose (for some), and a sense of belonging to that tribe.
The net, and social media in particular, has undoubtedly increased our fears and all our mental health challenges. We look at the threats, and we feel inadequate.
Above all, despite the friends and connections they have on social media, it is all too easy to feel socially isolated. The pandemic exacerbated this.
But worse:
People pretend to be other people, and machines pretend to be humans.
It is a breeding ground for paranoia.
There is some basis of truth in these fears. But there is also distortion. And how we react to the challenges is in our human hands.
We need AI
What we are hanging on to so determinedly is the world as it is. And the truth is that we humans are making a complete and utter mess of the world.
AI is just the latest in a catalogue of man’s great ideas. And look how far they have got us so far.
- Take the plastic bottle. And look at our polluted oceans.
- Take our plundering of natural resources, leaving us reliant on energy sources that have become too expensive to produce.
- Take the convenience of fast food. And look at obesity and modern diseases.
Mankind is doing just great – not.
And now we have unleashed AI. It is already here. It's not going back in its box. In only a few years, it will be making decisions for us.
AI has the potential to make considerably better decisions than us.
And that control thing we are all so worried about – it is just an illusion. We have little or no control over our lives now. We can’t control many of the things that happen to us.
The world of work has changed before. Many of us used to be homesteaders till the Industrial Revolution. We had no transport, and yet we were not socially isolated.
How AI develops and if it develops as a force for good or a force for evil is in our hands.
Ask yourself: next time you have an operation, would the risks be higher with a human or a machine performing it?
The answer is that the machine would be far safer IF it had been developed and programmed correctly.
It is up to us
We can use AI to improve our lives or destroy them.
It is our superpower.
How we programme AI will affect the future. If we tell it to make good decisions with the good of humanity at its heart, then that is what it will do.
Governments must develop checks and guidelines on ethics, security and safety as a high priority. Laws must be introduced to prevent misuse and deepfake manipulation. Education and upskilling should be a priority.
AI should be a shared responsibility, not something lying in the hands of a few oligarchs. Governments and businesses should work together.
Entrepreneurs can make a colossal difference by developing AI to help future generations.
- Start with the ethics of what you develop instead of adding some later.
- Solve meaningful problems that improve life and for the social good.
- Develop AI to seek out and reject deepfakes.
- Operate with transparency
- Audit regularly for bias, fairness and possible consequences
- Choose investors with the same ethical approach so you are never forced to choose
- Work with stakeholders and other entrepreneurs to promote best practices and shape the best possible ethical policies for safeguarding the future.
Every individual can contribute. The better example we show the machines, the more they will be programmed to emulate traits of kindness, compassion, happiness, and peace.
Make the world a better place, and develop AI to help. It can.
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