A I is transforming our lives & businesses worldwide. Already algorithms are used everywhere, supposedly overcoming human subjectivity, bias, and prejudice. The danger is that algorithms replicate and embed the biases that already exist in our society. Computers learn & understand language & behaviour & adapt & predict. A I not only learns but also makes decisions. Humans are becoming unnecessary in processes. A I replaces them. A I systems are already being used to improve business strategies, customer service, market research, advertising, predictive maintenance, autonomous cars, video surveillance, medicine and more.
There are 3 major areas of ethical concern for society: privacy and surveillance, bias and discrimination, and perhaps the most difficult philosophical question of the era, the role of human judgment. Michael Sandel a Harvard philosopher and many others raise important questions about the direction A I is taking the world in.
https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2020/10/ethical-concerns-mount-as-ai-takes-bigger-decision-making-role/
Automation is here to stay. It's impact on jobs & manufacturing will become ever more obvious. This changes the skill sets needed to be employable. The benefit may be that the routine, boring, mundane, unskilled jobs can be done by machines or software. The downside is what becomes of unskilled people who don't have the capacity to be upskilled?
Our lives are generally overseen & regulated to ensure compliance with some sort of ethical code. Who is regulating the huge Tech monolith? No one. Companies that develop or use AI systems largely self-police, relying on existing laws and market forces. They also rely on shareholders & highly-prized AI technical talent to keep them in line. How naive is that considering the risks?
Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR) and Mixed Reality (MR) are all considered under the umbrella of Extended Reality 'XR' - The development of increasingly realistic virtual worlds is used in training, education, psychotherapy, physical and mental rehabilitation, marketing, entertainment, and for further applications in research. This definitely needs to be regulated. Researchers, content creators, and distributors of XR systems need to determine what should be within a code of conduct. At the very least it should be, like Hippocrates, "First, do no harm”.
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frvir.2020.00001/full
The potential for harm to people & the planet is enormous, as well as possibly very beneficial. These developments in the wrong, unscrupulous, profit driven, hands could literally mean the end of life as we know it. Or it could lead to Nirvana.
The problem is human beings are not infallible. They make mistakes. Mistakes with this technology could be catastrophic. No Governments seem to have a plan for technological development, oversight & legislation enforcement.
We have opened Pandoras Box & we haven't got a clue.
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