As a country, we are not very good at preventing or managing catastrophes. Our leaders often get detailed warnings about certain crises and fail to take the proper steps afterwards. Leaders in the Middle East warned us about Osama Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda. Nearly 3,000 civilians’ lives had to be taken for the government to take action against terrorism and the countries who harbored them. Millions of Americans had to file for foreclosure for the government to acknowledge their previous failures and take action against the executives of the companies that issued subprime mortgages. It took turning convention centers into hospitals for the government to take action against Covid-19. These are just a few examples during my lifetime where lack of actions by our leaders has failed us. Artificial Intelligence could be the next catastrophe. However, it is much more complex than the other instances I mentioned.
Dr. Geoffrey Hinton is one of the most knowledgable people about artificial intelligence. He worked for Google for ten years developing and researching artificial intelligence. In this interview, he discusses how artificial intelligence can make our lives better and safer. A.I. has the potential to better treat diseases and predict weather patterns. It has the potential to make our lives easier by automating repetitive tasks. However, there is a dark side to A.I. that we don’t seem to acknowledge. Like a sci-fi thriller, when technology falls into the wrong hands, humanity is at risk. There are a lot of bad actors in the world looking to cause harm. If the proper steps are not taken, we could be living in a sci-fi movie before long. It is easy to get discouraged. However, I am choosing to focus on the positives, while acknowledging the uncertainties and risks our society is facing. At the end of the day, I cannot do anything too much about it. However, there are two key things I can do to help prepare myself and help our society.
1. Educate Myself.
A.I. has the potential to replace a lot of white collar jobs that were once dubbed “irreplaceable.” This includes jobs I am potentially applying to as I graduate from college in a few months. I am going to prepare myself by learning about it as much as I can. This will include reading and watching the news from various sources to get different perspectives. I will also try to attend trainings and take free classes online to better utilize A.I. and maximize its benefits.
2. Lobby Elected Officials
Despite what people try to make you believe, our elected officials work for us. We are their bosses. We get to decide if they keep their jobs every few years. A.I. is going to affect every American regardless of political party or zip code. Our elected officials need to get past political rhetoric and work together to deliver solutions for their constituents. They need to regulate and monitor the industry, so there are not as many surprises to ordinary people. This will give people more time to potentially prepare for a new normal. Ideally, this will help keep this powerful technology from falling into the wrong hands and preventing a dooms day scenario.
At the end of the day, I am going to focus on what I can control. No human can control the universe. History is not kind to people who pretend to be God. If someone were to use this technology to deliberately destroy people, I am confident they will be brought to justice. I am going to educate myself to hopefully have a prosperous future alongside A.I. At the end of the day, no one knows what the future holds, and I am going to try to find comfort in that. Welcome to the new normal!
Well thought out comments.
Thank you!