Written by: Chow Gui Bao (3D 2022)
Have you watched a sci-fi movie before? I am sure we would have at least watched one or two of those movies, or have seen clips of such movies online before. However, whenever you encounter such films, do you realise a phenomenon? Artificial intelligence (AI) are often portrayed as scary antagonists that want to take over earth and end humanity. Then there is us, the tiny midget human beings that fear AI. Although such scenes in movies are often exaggerated, would there be such incidents occurring in reality with the advancement of AI? Signs of AI advancing faster than humans have been shown, for example, an AI beat a world chess competition in a recent international chess competition. Despite their rapid advancement, should we, the creators of AI, actually fear AI? In this essay, I will be discussing why humans should not fear advances in AI.
First and foremost, the advancement of AI means that AI could better help humans. AI was made with the aim to support humans, to reduce difficulties faced by them. The advancement of AI means that they can help replace humans in dangerous jobs. For example, in the constructions of heights. Inevitably, construction of tall buildings is very dangerous and there could be high risks of construction workers falling from great heights. Such incidents have occured recently, with Straits Time reporting that 3 migrant workers at a construction site in Singapore fell to death due to crane collision at the site. However with the advancement of AI, it could eventually replace humans in such jobs. With technology, AI could be developed in such a way where they are programmed to do construction work. Robot Bricklayer is one such AI which is created to replace humans in construction work. Bricklayer helps to lay 1000 bricks at heights every hour, thus humans would not have to go up the height. Therefore, AI can help to replace humans in life-threatening jobs. Human lives could be saved with the help of AI. Hence if AI can help us and eventually prevent tragic incidents, why should we fear them? Should we not be anymore glad to wish they advance faster to help humans better?
Secondly, the advancement of AI also means that there will be improved efficiency and quality of our lives. AI could replace humans in tedious jobs, such as packaging, cleaning etc so more time can be spent on productive work. The Minihome AI assistance developed by Google has significantly improved our lives. The Minihome AI assistance can operate on voice command, hence household chores like cleaning can be done despite the owner being far away from home. Humans would no longer have to spend time on domestic drudgery and can focus more on productive work, thereby increasing efficiency. In addition to improving efficiency, AI can also eventually become substitute partners for humans whose family members are far away. The advancement of AI would make communications between AI and humans possible, thus humans would feel less lonely and their quality of life would be better if they could talk to someone. AI can further blend into our daily lives by giving diet advice to humans based on our body mass which helps to improve our physical health. Since AI can enhance humans’ lives, why should we fear something that is beneficial for us?
Some may argue that we should fear AI as AI is a threat to human lives. The reason for them to say so is because there are signs of AI outsmarting humans. For example, a Guardian newspaper reported that an AI robot was able to write an article independently and the article looked as if it was written by a journalist. This means that AI is now able to think, analyse and create and these are features unique to human beings. These people fear that one day the AI would eventually go out of human control as they now have human qualities and could function independently. They fear that AI may take over the world one day, like what sci-fi movies usually portray. However, what these critics fail to realise is that humans still have superior control over AI. Humans are the creator of AI. We not only have the ability to create AI, but we also have the ability to destroy AI. We could easily erase the codings and programmes on AI which is detrimental to AI as AI is fully reliable on those codes. We could also alter the codings on a faulty AI to make it function properly. Hence, AI is not a threat to humans as we still have the utmost control over them and thus we should not fear them.
All in all, there are countless possibilities with the advancement of AI and I strongly believe that AI would make a positive impact in our lives, with evidence showing that the growth of AI has benefited humans more than harming us. Therefore, humans should not fear AI and instead, let us anticipate what kind of surprises AI can bring to our lives.
MJR World of Words 