I think artificial intelligence should be feared and embraced. It can make our lives easier and make chores more convenient but we should be cautious about using it because of how powerful it can be. Things like AlphaGo and Watson are demonstrations of the potential power artificial intelligence can have. While they are fun to see and fascinating, they are also scary in the way they are very similar to humans. Since artificial intelligence cannot allow a computer to experience emotions the same way humans do, one robot sci-fi movie will show you how this can manifest horribly in the future. While I have these fears for how artificial intelligence technology can be used in the wrong hands, I also love the results of automation I’ve seen in my life. I frequent Panera, and I love the iPad kiosks where I can order for myself since I know how they function and can do it more easily than telling a cashier all of my customizations. I also appreciate having the ability to get anything delivered to me through Amazon in two days. I definitely recognize the negative side effects of these convenient additions to my life, the loss of jobs of many middle class workers, but I’m not sure how to solve this since everyone want their lives to be easier and more convenient. I appreciate these conveniences but also appreciate interacting with human cashiers at other restaurants and touching and shopping for things at stores instead of ordering online. We have gotten used to these perks in our lives but do not rely on most of them and can easily live without them. I think companies should think through how new technology in AI will impact the greater society and economy.
I hope our world does not become fully automated where robots are making our burgers and everything else we eat and you order everything through the internet. I don’t think the benefits are worth harm and cost it would have on our economy. I don’t think it is worth the money saving benefits to have driverless trucks because it would replace the most common job in the United States. Automations and improvements in artificial intelligence like this do not seem worth the spikes in unemployment. Where are these workers supposed to go? Will every blue collar and repetitive job become automated? Will my college education even be enough? If our field is really oversaturated with workers from around the world, how can I differentiate myself from them and these machines? I don’t think automation is a solution to every small task we have to do. Will we all become too lazy to do anything for ourselves and need a machine to do it all for us? Was Wall-E right? I personally could not work in robotics, which I consider the field of replacing workers. They may be only helping workers do their jobs now but what is the next generation of their robot assistants going to look like? Probably exactly like the workers.
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