Don’t fret! AI is not as dangerous as it is being made out now

On Thursday of last week, US President Joe Biden and his deputy Kamala D Harris held a meeting with the heads of tech giants, including Google and Microsoft, at the White House. It was a good sight to see Indian-origin people dominating the meeting with Kamala D Harris, Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella in the spotlight. That's a different story though.

The meeting was convened to discuss impending dangers that a new technology like artificial intelligence (AI) could pose.

Sam Altman, the Chief Executive Officer of OpenAI, also attended the meeting. In fact, OpenAI's ChatGPT, an AI chatbot that has answers to every question and the power to pen poems and the phenomenal popularity it enjoys, triggered the debate about the ill-effects of AI, prompting the White House, the seat of the US power, to call for the meeting. GPT in ChatGPT stands for Generative Pre-trained Transformer (GPT), which is a natural language technology that taps deep learning to generate human-like text.

The White House meeting is not the first such attempt to take stock of the dangers of AI. An open letter, co-signed by Elon Musk, world's second richest man and founder of Tesla, and over 1,100 others, had in March sought a six-month pause on AI research to discuss the threats the new technology poses. The letter, which also cited potential dangers of misinformation from AI systems, triggered a controversy as some of the signatories said they did not endorse it. Ironically, Musk is co-founder of OpenAI!

A month before the letter was out, Vint Cerf, widely considered as the father of the internet, also cautioned against investing in conversational AI on which ChatGPT is based. Google also developed a rival in Bard as its search engine, its bread and butter, is in danger post the ChatGPT revolution. According to him, AI chatbots raise ethical issues as well.

Subsequently, Geoffrey Hinton, reckoned as the father of AI, also cautioned against the risks of AI chatbots. To drive home his point, he resigned from Google in order to speak openly about AI. Hinton, who played a critical role in developing neural networks that are being widely used in AI systems now, warned that AI chatbots could become more intelligent than humans and they could be exploited by nefarious characters.

These recent developments on conversational AI indicate growing concerns and fears about artificial intelligence, per se.

But then does AI pose any existential threat to humanity? It's very unlikely. Such fears crop up whenever a path-breaking technology emerges or a revolutionary new invention sees the light of the day. One has to just go back in time and remember the flabbergast reactions when nuclear energy came into existence to understand the public psyche. It was ditto when first the test-tube baby took birth, and, more recently, when the internet revolution arrived. In course of time, it took the world by storm.

However, one doesn’t need new technologies for putting humanity in danger. The world is already home to weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons that can destroy large cities within a few seconds.

For that matter, one can use anything to cause harm to someone. Even a stone is enough to kill somebody. But a stone has more utility value when used for constructing buildings and structures. Human beings have been using knives, also a killer weapon, for better purposes for thousands of years. When they could put a knife and nuclear energy (which can be used for making nuclear bombs) for better use, can’t one do the same with AI? They will and they ought to. Humans have the ability and capability to use artificial intelligence for more constructive purposes.

However, there is an argument that AI will eventually become more powerful than the human brain. Of course, that will be very likely in some ways. For that matter, the simple calculator that we use is more powerful than the human brain. How many of us can give an answer in seconds if asked the result of 9999 X 9999? A calculator does the job in a few seconds, but a person needs a pen, paper and several minutes of time to calculate (if he knows how to calculate!) to get the same answer. Going by this, a calculator is much more powerful than the human brain. But does a calculator pose any danger to humans? The answer is an absolute no.

The fears that AI systems will be used for large-scale misinformation are also unfounded. Fake news and unreliable information are already ruling the roost on social media and the internet. It's nothing new.

Some also expressed fears that AI would take away jobs. Such fears crop up with every new technology. On the contrary, when viewed pragmatically, it becomes clear that every new technology has brought along more and more job avenues. The best example in this category is the software revolution. It will be likewise with AI and all other technologies that will emerge in the future.

Further, potential opportunities that are likely to be offered by AI are huge and diverse, especially in areas of machine learning, deep learning and Big Data analytics.

Gartner has already estimated that generative AI would create 10 per cent of all data by 2025. This is currently at less than one per cent. By that time, AI will account for 20 per cent of all consumer-facing test data. Moreover, more than 30 per cent of manufacturers are expected to tap generative AI to churn out better products in the next few years.

While entrepreneurs are well aware of how to tap new and emerging technologies for profitable returns, the governments around the world are well equipped to effectively handle situations should there be any side-effects when such technologies are used.

Furthermore, human beings have a great advantage, one that no technology can possibly possess. That is common sense. It is common sense that gives birth to new technologies, which obviously come with good and bad elements. People on the street and in the governments know how to checkmate the bad elements while making use of the good elements. So there is no need to worry about artificial intelligence, or any new technology that comes up in the future. I don't think AI will be as dangerous as some paint it to be.

Of course, wiser counsel is in taking precautions when getting a feel of any new technology that is introduced. There is no doubt that with the US administration having swung into action, other governments will follow suit and eventually checks and balances will emerge for putting artificial intelligence for better use.

Well, AI is here to stay and it will be for the overall good of the society. Mark my words!