Argumetantive Essay: IS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE A THREAT TO MANKIND & SOCIETY? PDF

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The aim of this final assignment is to aid students in the development of their critical analysis and academic writing skills. It asks the student to combine all they have learned in the course of the module and apply their skills to write an Argumentative Essay on a topic of their own choice. My ch...

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The Argumentative Essay

Tadala Tsilizani R1903D8063360 Induction Module (15013) IS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE A THREAT TO MANKIND & SOCIETY? Mushima Muke 02/02/2020

IS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE A THREAT TO MANKIND & SOCIETY? The argument on the dangers and benefits of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been raging on since the inception of AI itself with some believing there is only good to be gained from the use of AI and others believing that AI spells doom for mankind. MerriamWebster defines Artificial intelligence as “a branch of computer science dealing with the simulation of intelligent behavior in computers or the capability of a machine to imitate intelligent human behavior” (Merriam-Webster, "Artificial Intelligence"). It is undeniable that AI has and continues to present and provide advancements in technology for a wide range of use in modern society, but is that all it provides, is there a danger lurking with the progression and use of AI? This essay looks at the risks and dangers posed by Artificial General Intelligence (Otherwise known as Strong AI) to humans. Perhaps one of the most prevalent risks in Artificial General Intelligence is its main strength, autonomous functionality which demands that machines make contextual decisions. This has proven to be a challenge. Take the case with Boeing 737 Max, between 15th October 2018 and 10th March 2019 they experienced two fatal crashes, the first killing 189 passengers involving Lion Air in Indonesia and the second killing 157 passengers involving Ethiopian Airlines in Ethiopia. An article by Bloomberg hinted that preliminary reports for both crashes indicate that the planes crashed due to erroneous reporting by a faulty sensor that the aircraft was being stalled. The false report triggered an automated system known as an Augmentation Maneuvering Characteristics System or MCAS that tried to aim the aircraft's nose down so it could gain sufficient speed to fly safely (Levin & Beene, 2019). The failure by the AI to ignore the data and make a decision based on context led to catastrophic loss of life suggesting that failure in AI can prove dangerous. There is a possibility of AI becoming uncontrollable. Nick Bostrom contends that an AI machine could design far better machines; there would then verifiably be a "knowledge explosion," and the insight of man would be deserted far. Consequently, the main AI machine is the last innovation that man need ever make, given that the machine is sufficiently easygoing to reveal to us how to monitor it (Bostrom, 2017, p. 20). This is

further backed by Ray Kurzweil's claim that the Singularity will permit us to conquer age-old human issues and inconceivably enhance human inventiveness. We will safeguard and upgrade the insight that advancement has presented on us while beating the significant constraints of natural development. In any case, the Singularity will likewise intensify the capacity to follow up on our dangerous tendencies, so its full story has not yet been composed (Kurzweil, 2006, p. 44). Both points highlight the possibility of AI going beyond the control of its creators and eventually seeing people as a threat it needs to eliminate posing an existential threat. Elon Musk and Stephen Hawking have expressed similar opinions.

With complex AI algorithms, Social Manipulation (influencing the political, social and business outcomes) is possible. As evidenced by a 2018 case, a data analytics firm collected a huge number of Facebook profiles of US voters, in one of the tech mammoth's greatest ever information ruptures, and utilized them to manufacture a ground-breaking programming system to anticipate and impact decisions at the polling booth (Cadwalladr & Graham-Harrison, 2018). In a journal by Hunt Allcot and Matthew Glentkow, they talk about the financial aspects of fake news, its conceptualization, how fake news may produce utility for certain buyers, how it forces private and social expenses, present new information on the utilization of fake news preceding the political decision, and investigates a 1,200-man post-political race online overview, and a database of 156 political decision-related reports that were arranged as bogus by driving certainty checking sites in the three months before the political decision (Allcott & Gentzkow, 2017). These are some of the most compelling pieces of evidence suggesting that AI’s able to identify and target individuals and expose them to misinformation based on their data impacting the outcome. Slowly people are being persuaded into making certain decisions by AI. Privacy breaches and user tracking issues have also been caused by AI before. There are cases where, without the user’s consent, AI-driven applications and tools have been able to track, store and, in some cases, share private information for instance in August 2018, an examination by the Associated Press uncovered that switching off the 'location Tracking' on an Android phone would not stop the gadget following the client's location. This was regardless of Google's help page expressing that with GPS

Location services turned off your location data is not tracked and stored. Google has since changed its help page to unequivocally say that some Location data may at present be spared with the setting switched off (Nakashima, 2018). This innovation is monstrously valuable to predators, hoodlums, and different crooks since it makes it so easy to figure out where you are ("Don't Let Location-Based Services Put You in Danger", 2018), proving once again that AI can pose or at least induce a threat to mankind. While some of the ideas on singularity might seem farfetched, Vincent C. Muller rightly asserted that “If the intelligence of artificial systems were to surpass that of humans, humanity would face significant risks” (Mller, 2016). Artificial General Intelligence does present a few risks and threats to mankind, be it through autonomous actions, becoming uncontrollable, social manipulation, data breaches and many other threats conceivable. We stand to gain a lot through the use of AI but we should equally be wary of, understand and prepare for its full capabilities

References Allcott, H., & Gentzkow, M. (2017). Social Media and Fake News in the 2016 Election. Social Media and Fake News in the 2016 Election, 31(2). doi: 10.3386/w23089 Artificial Intelligence. (n.d.). Retrieved February 1, 2020, from https://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/artificial intelligence Bostrom, N. (2017). Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies (1st ed.). Oxford University Press. Cadwalladr, C., & Graham-Harrison, E. (2018, March 17). Revealed: 50 million Facebook profiles harvested for ... Retrieved February 2, 2020, from https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/mar/17/cambridge-analytica-facebookinfluence-us-election Don't Let Location-Based Services Put You in Danger. (2018, March 16). Retrieved February 2, 2020, from https://www.mcafee.com/blogs/consumer/family-safety/dont-letlocation-based-services-put-you-in-danger/ Kurzweil, R. (2006). The singularity is near: when humans transcend biology (illustrated, reprint). New York: Penguin Books, Viking. Mller Vincent C. (2016). Risks of artificial intelligence. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press. Nakashima, R. (2018, August 13). AP Exclusive: Google tracks your movements, like it or not. Retrieved February 2, 2020, from https://apnews.com/828aefab64d4411bac257a07c1af0ecb/AP-Exclusive:-Googletracks-your-movements,-like-it-or-not...