AI: Threat or boon to society?

Less than a decade ago, artificial intelligence (AI) was considered a topic for people who are interested in discussing about the future. There were many writers of articles and even books talking about the future impact that AI would have on the “future of work.” Now seemingly overnight, AI is becoming more and more a part of our everyday life.

It has been estimated that more than half the companies around the world have either adopted or are in the process of adopting AI in their operations. Already in some industries, such as health care, financial services, data management and processing and cloud computing, investments have been made to incorporate AI in the daily functions of the organization. Even generative AI tools such as ChatGPT have led businessmen and educators to ask where and how AI can be used in their organization’s mission. Sometimes it is hard to imagine that ChatGPT was officially launched only late last year.

It is true AI will be a revolution with the same or even greater impact as the Industrial Revolution. The good thing is that the spread of AI will not be limited to developed countries alone. In the Philippines, the effect is already being felt.

In a recent television interview, the president of St. Luke’s Medical Center said that his hospital was already gearing up for the use of robotics. This could mean that a team of surgeons based in one country can perform surgery on a patient in another country through the use of AI-enabled robotics. This could mean that possibly in the near future, patients in the Philippines do not have to go to the United States to have complex and expensive medical operations.

However, people should be aware that AI has its limitations. It may have the features of a superhuman but it also has weaknesses. This technology is actually oriented towards yesterday’s data and the future may not resemble anything like the past.

At present, data is also subject to inherent biases by human beings which can produce poor outcomes. Those who are intent on using AI technology must manage this limitation.

According to the Harvard Business Review: “How?  By focusing on areas where the human brain and machines complement one another. Whereas AI increases the volume of data we can process and the degree of complexity we can manage, our brains work in a reductive manner; we generate ideas and then explain them to other people. Whereas machines lack imagination and moral judgment, we can tap those critical skills as AI helps us increase the velocity, variety and the novelty of questions we are asking to solve problems in our organizations.”

If humans and AI are able to work together using their respective strengths, this collaboration can in fact reduce the threat of AI to human society.

One of the most important areas for digitization is in the area of payments.  Humans have historically used physical objects including cash as a means of transaction. The main revolution in this system was the use of credit cards which started in 1950 and cards with magnetic strips in 1971, away from paper money and the use of checks for retail payments.

According to The Economist: “Now a new wave of digitization driven by the arrival of the smartphone and the internet is changing payment systems again…. Digitized forms of payment can also become a basis for the provision of broader financial services and an especially important change in poorer countries with less developed financial systems.”

The trend towards a cashless economy has already begun with a few countries having less than 10 percent of financial transactions still utilizing cash. There are several countries that have at this stage at least 50 percent noncash payments for all transactions. The list of these countries includes Sweden, United Kingdom, Finland, United States, South Korea, Malaysia, China and Japan.  I am sure that this list will continue to grow and will someday include the Philippines.

It is not only in the world of business and education that AI has now become a major force. In the recent Sony World Photography Award presented in April, the winner in the creative category was awarded to Boris Eldagsen, whose entry was a vintage style black and white portrait of two women. Eldagsen turned down the prize and revealed that his image had been created not by a camera but by artificial intelligence. The German artist said that he had submitted his entry to see if he could fool the panel.

ChatGPT is said to be used to write essays and other forms of written correspondence. Perhaps the time will come when a ChatGPT book wins a Nobel Prize in Literature.

As artificial intelligence rapidly becomes part of our everyday lives, it is important that we understand this phenomenon that will definitely transform our society.

*   *   *

Watch out for our final Writefest for 2023 for kids and teens on June 26, 28, 30, July 3, 5  & 7 and get to meet and work with authors Manix Abrera, Mae Coyiuto, Roel SR Cruz, Sofi Bernedo. Email [email protected] or call 0945. 2273216 for details. Join our hybrid workshop.

Email: [email protected]