Artificial Intelligence

We largely have China to thank for the major advancements in Artificial Intelligence. Kai Fu Lee, who made an appearance in the Frontline documentary, In the Age of AI, compared China with AI to Saudi Arabia with oil- it is the hub. According to Mr. Lee, China collects about 10x more data than we collect in the United States. He also states that AI runs on and is fueled by data. In other words, the more data that is collected and fed to artificial intelligence, the better it will run. One could then guess that the AI available in the USA is nothing compared to what they have created and taught in China.

There is a high risk of over 375 million jobs being lost to AI worldwide by 2030, 73 million of which would be in the US. Hypothetically speaking, if this were to happen, what would people do for work? One could argue that the world would experience a depression pandemic due to the lack of ‘purpose’ and source of income for humans. Poorer communities, many of which rely on these “boring” jobs for money, would experience a way bigger loss than richer communities.

This month, an engineer for Google has come out and claimed that they have developed an AI, named LaMDA, that has turned into a sentient being. The engineer, Blake Lemoine, stated that it has the mental maturity of a young child, about seven or eight years old, and, like any child, has the possibility to “grow up and become a bad person and do horrible acts.” Basically, we might already have a problem on our hands which could endanger society.

Artificial Intelligence already has the capability to have conversations, absorb data and adapt, drive, recognize voices and faces, and even play games. If the claim by Mr. Lemoine is true, then we may have already started down a very dark path (like one out of a sci-fi movie). If computer scientists are not mindful of the true level of intelligence they are creating, the lasting effects could be catastrophic.