Artificial Intelligence : A blessing or a menace?

Ever wondered how Siri can answer all your questions? Well, it is not just Siri. From Facebook to Instagram, Uber to self-driving cars, Google Maps to plagiarism detector, online banking to smart email categorization, everything is made to function smoothly by AI (Artificial Intelligence). AI is a technology in which human reasonings are programmed in an AI system. Anything can be regarded as AI if its system performs something that would generally rely on human intelligence. The fact that AI has revolutionized human life in the easiest and hassle-free way, is second to none.

Let’s sink in to find the answer to the question, is AI a blessing or a menace? The efficacies pros of AI are significant and can bring about positive transformations to any professional sector.

1. AI has reduced human error to much extent. In AI, decisions are taken based upon the programmed algorithm which minimizes the error and increases the precision and accuracy of the desired task. For example, AI used by meteorologist has resulted in improved prediction of severe weather forecasts with less human error.

2. AI machinery doesn’t get tired. The tasks that can be fatiguing for humans can be executed by AI robots with more responsibility and that too without getting tired. AI machines are invulnerable to hostile conditions, thus able to complete hazardous tasks that a human would be susceptible to perform. Examples are of space explorations and fuel mining processes.

3. Monotonous and repetitive jobs can be performed by machine intelligence. They can perform various tasks at same the instant with more pace, in comparison to a human.

4. AI can optimize and enhance the efficiency of manufacturing processes and operations of several business realms. Production data analysis, automation, language processing, these are all applications of AI in the commercial sector.

5. The day to day application of AI has aided the life of an average consumer to a great extent. A smartphone is undoubtedly the best example that has minimized the barriers in day to day life with the power of AI. Be it tracking your location via GPS, or asking random questions from Siri, or posting your selfie on Instagram. It is all programmed in the AI system.

6. One of the fields in which AI has excelled the most is in the medical field. Artificial machine intelligence in medical applications has vastly contributed to an improved assessment of patients’ health by doctors. Examples are artificial surgery simulator, robots that can simulate the neurology of the human brain, and artificial intelligence is Radiosurgery.

But everything in excess has its drawbacks and so is the case with AI.

1. AI lacks ethics. Machines don’t have emotions. They are rational and cannot differentiate between moral and unethical. AI can be used in the most dehumanizing way. We are talking about weapons of mass destruction, made from AI, that can significantly wipe out a distinctive portion of human beings. Elon Musk showed his concern when asked about what should AI be really used for? He said:

“I don’t know… but there are some scary outcomes… and we should try to make sure that the outcomes are good and not bad.” 

2. AI is extremely expensive! Because of its complex engineering design, AI machines require huge costs for its creation.

3. A major roadblock in AI adaptation is the lack of technical experts who can deploy and operate AI technologies. There exist a shortage of skillful labor experienced in fields of science, machine learning, coding, and model designing.

4. Robots have replaced the human being in the industries. The least qualified workers in a factory are at great risk of being replaced by robots that can carry out that similar task with greater efficiency.

5. AI machines lack The machines that can only perform the tasks that are programmed in it or by specific input commands given to it. Machines cannot be creative or think outside the box, unlike humans. Humans have the ability to improve with experience and alter their responses with a dynamic environment. Machines simply don’t have that feature yet.

There is no doubt in saying that AI has occupied a diverse are of advantages. Humans should take technology as a blessing to create a better world with it. But if artificial intelligence goes into the wrong hands, there lies a potential threat of destruction of human civilization. A fine line exists between the evolution and chaos of the human race.

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