Artificial Intelligence — Curse or Blessing?
DEP AI vs HI book project.
Artificial intelligence is a hot topic; almost everyone talks about it and, in one way or another, uses it, sometimes even unknowingly. Some people, especially technology lovers, adore it and see it as our future, the best invention in human history. At the same time, others perceive it as a danger to our world and the end of humanity as we know it.
I have worked in IT for over two decades, often with the most modern technologies. There was a time when I worked on autonomous vehicles, and my preferred subject was aircraft. I have some knowledge about AI and ML, and I find it useful in many areas of my profession.
On the other hand, I’m passionate about psychology, human behaviors and interactions, relationships, and mental health. I watch people and ponder their behavior in various situations without judging them.
What I have observed regarding people’s opinions about AI, especially the extreme ones, is that often, they are based on a lack of understanding of what AI actually is, how it works, and, in some cases, its complexity in incorporating them in our everyday lives.
Example of Technology Enthusiasts
Just a few weeks ago, I had a chat with an older gentleman, passionate about technology, who bought the newest model of Tesla with the “self-driving option”. He expects that in a few months (with the next upgrade), his vehicle will be fully autonomous, and there won’t be a need for a driver anymore. There was no point in trying to explain that, as the vehicles themselves are pretty much autonomous, we are a few years away from having fully automated cars on our roads.
As the technology is there to “make the vehicle drive without a driver”, we are facing many issues on how to introduce the vehicles into our “real world”. We have to take into account weather, road, and traffic conditions. What will happen when a number of autonomous cars drive on the same road? How would it affect their lidar signals? What about all the laws, state or federal laws, or accident liability?
Not to mention that we still have plenty of “legacy vehicles” with human drivers and pedestrians on our roads. What if someone unexpectedly steps on the road? And that is where human intelligence plays a role. There is plenty of non-verbal communication between drivers and pedestrians, and we instinctively save lives. Artificial Intelligence is nothing but a number of algorithms analyzing data. The algorithms are designed mainly by humans, though AI started creating some algorithms, too. It’s where AI vs HI/EI plays a role.
So yes, we have great technology supporting autonomous vehicles, but we are a few years away from seeing fully self-driving cars on our roads.
Example of Technology Skeptics
I came across an article saying we shouldn’t use ChatGPT because “it is racist, discriminatory and dangerous for our society”. It is like saying, “Do not use knives because knives are killers”. This sentence sounds stupid, doesn’t it? Everyone knows that a knife is just a tool, and depending on how it is used, it can kill (when used by a killer), or it can save lives (when used in the form of a scalpel by a doctor). Not to mention that there is a full palette of tasks that we perform in everyday life that requires the use of a knife, starting with using it in our kitchen to prepare food, utilizing it as a tool in the garage, or creating art or many others.
The same is true with ChatGPT; it’s just a tool, and if it supports us as humanity or works against us, it depends only on us. We are the ones who put the input parameters into the system, and based on our input, ChatGPT gives us the answer. Also, we have to keep in mind that ChatGPT is an algorithm that, in a very short time, processes tonnes of information floating on the Internet and provides an answer based on this. There is a lot of rubbish in the Cloud, so it is our responsibility to evaluate the response we get, and if we aren’t convinced about the correctness, search for better answers.
This tool should serve and support us in gaining access to more information and making better decisions. However, to use it in our favor, we must use our human intelligence to evaluate how to use the tool to make it work in our favor and not against us.
The importance of our Human Intelligence
The most important aspect of using artificial intelligence is using our own human intelligence to verify the information AI provides us. I don’t think we should have a competition or a fight between Artificial Intelligence and Human Intelligence. No, I believe we should make these two work together in our favor and use AI to support us humans in developing better medical and educational systems, better environments, and better communities for our everyday lives.
I believe one of humanity’s biggest problems is seeing everything as black and white, good or bad, us vs them. It would be so much better if we united different aspects of life and took out of it what benefits us as a community and as a human race.
Yes, of course, there are risks that vicious individuals can misuse AI for their personal gains, power, and money, and it is why it is crucial to use our human intelligence in connection with AI to protect ourselves from possible harm. However, being scared of new technologies, hiding from them, or denying their existence wouldn’t be a smart choice.
We have to learn how to embrace it. When we look at our ancestors, they were afraid of fires, but how much did the human race gain from the moment we learned how to embrace the fire and use it to our benefit? What significant progress has humanity made since we discovered tools and ways of farming, not to mention the Industrial Revolution? Cars can kill us, but they are convenient to move from one place to the other; Knives can kill us, yet they are so handy in preparing food. AI could potentially kill and destroy us, but it’s our choice to embrace it in a way that supports us in a better and happier life.
