Is Artificial Intelligence Good for our Society?
Our society is changing rapidly, partly due to the rise of artificial intelligence, which has brought many new discoveries and developments to our world. During the Covid-19 outbreak, AI helped researchers develop treatments and vaccinations quickly. It has also created beneficial solutions to problems within healthcare, such as disease treatments. But although there have been many positive effects of AI, it can also negatively impact society. As more AI innovations are being created, jobs are becoming more and more automated, leading to unemployment. Additionally, a big concern for many is the creation of dangerous, AI-powered weapons.
The positive impact that AI has had on our society cannot be denied: AI has made a huge impact on healthcare. First, AI technology has helped healthcare professionals diagnose and discover treatments for their patients. By analyzing data and making inferences, artificial intelligence technologies can advance precision medicine, and enable more thorough and individualized treatment for patients. AI can also improve operational workflow in the healthcare system by automating some of the processes. According to the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences, “recording notes and reviewing medical records in electronic health records takes up 34% to 55% of physicians’ time, making it one of the leading causes of lost productivity for physicians.” By using AI to automate these tasks, physicians can spend more of their time treating patients.
AI has benefited the economy in many other ways as well. AI has made manufacturing far more efficient. AI machines are able to execute tasks without any breaks or interruptions, increasing economic efficiency and productivity. According to a September, 2018 report by the McKinsey Global Institute on the potential impact of AI on the world economy, “artificial intelligence has the potential to incrementally add 16 percent or around $13 trillion by 2030 to current global economic output.”
Even with these benefits, it is important to consider the negative consequences of artificial intelligence. . AI is leading to higher unemployment rates as jobs that used to be completed by humans are being taken over by automation. A study by Market Watch states that “AI and automation could affect or eliminate one-quarter of United States jobs. As AI evolves and more tasks fall into the category of things that can be easily automated, entire job industries could disappear.” Although AI has made manufacturing more efficient, many have and will continue to lose their jobs due to this advanced technology.
Finally, a frequently debated issue of AI is the future of autonomous weapons. Future of Life Institute defines autonomous weapons as, “weapons that use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to identify, select, and kill human targets without human intervention.” Governments and companies around the world are putting new technology and artificial intelligence to use in designing weapons systems that are more autonomous. These "killing robots" might be employed by law enforcement agencies for border patrol and in conflict areas. In 2021, a UN Panel of Experts on Libya reported on the possible use of lethal autonomous weapons systems in the future—such as the STM Kargu-2. This weapon system was said to be “programmed to attack targets without requiring data connectivity between the operator and the munition.” The use of AI weapons is both unpredictable and dehumanizing. If AI weapons are put to use, many humans could fall under the destruction of robots.
Although AI has created a stronger and more productive healthcare system and economy, it raises the question: where do we draw the line for AI weapons? With each year, more and more dangerous weapon systems are being created by AI. But as long as governments are kept in check and weapons are not being produced by AI, artificial intelligence has and will continue to make a widespread positive effect on our current society.
by LILLIAN YANG