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By William Van Zyl.
Published in March 2023 (several paragraphs in this APA referenced essay have been tweaked and include some AI generated text. I have included the AI text to illustrate the power of AI).
When it gets to AI, the questions that arises for us humans are: What is right and what is wrong? What is our benchmark for making moral and ethical decisions? What ‘philosophical magnet’ is in your moral compass when engaging with AI?
Table of Contents
Artificial Intelligence: The Rise of Intelligent Machines
Artificial intelligence (AI) is a rapidly growing field that involves developing intelligent machines that can perform tasks that typically require human intelligence, such as understanding natural language, recognising images, and making decisions. AI aims to create machines that can think, reason, and learn like humans and to use these machines to solve complex problems in various fields, from healthcare and finance to transportation and entertainment. In this article, we will explore AI’s history and current state and its potential impact on society and the future of work.
What is AI?
Artificial intelligence (AI) is a field of computer science that aims to create intelligent machines that can perform tasks that typically require human-level intelligence, such as visual perception, speech recognition, decision-making, and language translation. AI systems can be broadly categorised into three categories: supervised learning, unsupervised learning, and reinforcement learning.
History of Artificial Intelligence
The origins of AI can be traced back to the mid-20th century when computer scientists began exploring the concept of machine intelligence. In 1956, a group of researchers convened at Dartmouth College to discuss the potential of creating machines that could simulate human intelligence. This event is considered the birth of AI as a field of study.
Researchers developed various techniques for creating intelligent machines in the following decades, including rule-based systems, expert systems, and neural networks. However, progress was slow due to limitations in computing power and the complexity of human intelligence.
In recent years, advances in computing power and machine learning algorithms have led to significant breakthroughs in AI research. Deep learning, a subset of machine learning involving neural networks with many layers, has successfully achieved human-level performance in tasks such as image recognition and natural language processing.
Current State of Artificial Intelligence
Today, AI is used in a variety of applications, from virtual assistants like Siri and Alexa to self-driving cars and medical diagnosis systems. AI is also used in business applications such as fraud detection, customer service, and predictive analytics.
One of the key factors driving the current growth of AI is the availability of large amounts of data. Machine learning algorithms require large datasets to train on, and the explosion of data in recent years has made it possible to train more complex models than ever before.
Another factor driving the growth of AI is the availability of cloud computing resources. Cloud providers like Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure offer powerful computing resources that can be used to train and deploy machine learning models at scale, making it easier and more cost-effective to develop AI applications.
IMAGE: Robot created by AI (Discord/Midjourney). Prompt: “a robot in a futuristing setting.”
Impact of Artificial Intelligence
The rise of AI has the potential to profoundly impact society and the future of work. On the one hand, AI can automate many tasks currently performed by humans, leading to increased efficiency and productivity. For example, self-driving cars could eliminate the need for human drivers, reducing traffic accidents and freeing up time for other activities.
On the other hand, the automation of jobs could lead to significant job displacement, particularly in industries that rely heavily on manual labour. This could disrupt social and economic areas, particularly in areas with few alternative employment opportunities.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has undoubtedly brought about numerous positive changes in our lives, including improving efficiency, accuracy, and convenience. However, there are also potential negative impacts of AI that should be considered, such as:
- Job displacement: One of the most significant concerns with AI is that it has the potential to replace human workers in various industries. As AI technology continues to develop and improve, it may automate jobs that were previously performed by humans, leading to unemployment and economic disruption.
- Bias and discrimination: AI systems are only as unbiased as the data they are trained on. If the data contains biases or discriminatory patterns, the AI system may perpetuate these biases in its decision-making. This could lead to unfair treatment of certain groups and perpetuate societal inequalities.
- Privacy and security concerns: AI systems often require large amounts of data to function, and this data may include personal and sensitive information. If this data falls into the wrong hands, it could be used for nefarious purposes, such as identity theft or other cybercrimes.
- Dependence on AI: As AI becomes more prevalent, people may become overly reliant on it, leading to a loss of critical thinking skills and independence. This could be particularly problematic in situations where AI systems fail or malfunction.
- Ethical concerns: As AI becomes more advanced, there are growing concerns about the ethical implications of its use. For example, AI could be used to develop autonomous weapons, which could lead to disastrous consequences if they malfunction or fall into the wrong hands.
Overall, while AI has the potential to bring about numerous positive changes, it is important to consider and address its potential negative impacts to ensure that it is used ethically and responsibly.
From a Christian perspective, how should we engage with AI?
A great question! The instructions of the Ancient of Days are:
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Philippians 4:8 (NIV)
So, to keep it very simple, the answer is yes we should engage. However, when we are engaged in the creation, the use, and the application of AI we have to uphold God’s Word as the Golden Standard. Ask yourself the question: “What would Jesus do (WWJD)?”
If we adhere to His high moral standards and ethics we are free. We should engage with AI in an appropriate and honourable way which will not only benefit us but also our neighbour.
“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. “This is the first and great commandment. “And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Matthew 22:37–39).
References:
- Bostrom, N. (2014). Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies. Oxford University Press.
- Brynjolfsson, E., & McAfee, A. (2014). The Second Machine Age: Work, Progress, and Prosperity in a Time of Brilliant Technologies. W.W. Norton & Company.
- Floridi, L., & Sanders, J. W. (Eds.). (2004). On the Morality of Artificial Agents. Springer.
- Ford, M. (2015). Rise of the Robots: Technology and the Threat of a Jobless Future. Basic Books.
- Goodfellow, I., Bengio, Y., & Courville, A. (2016). Deep Learning. MIT Press.
- LeCun, Y., Bengio, Y., & Hinton, G. (2015). Deep learning. Nature, 521(7553), 436-444.
- Russell, S. J., & Norvig, P. (2010). Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach. Pearson.
- Searle, J. R. (1980). Minds, Brains, and Programs. Behavioural and Brain Sciences, 3(3), 417-457.
- Tegmark, M. (2017). Life 3.0: Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence. Knopf.
- Zeng, X., Lu, W., & Mao, J. (2021). A Review of Machine Learning in Artificial Intelligence. International Journal of Automation and Computing, 18(3), 310-327.
Citation:
Van Zyl, W. N. (2023). Essay: Artificial Intelligence (AI). Published to Five House Publishing. Blog post: https://fivehousepublishing.com/2023/03/22/essay-artificial-intelligence-ai/
Copyright © 2023 by William Van Zyl
Essay: Artificial Intelligence (AI).
All rights reserved. This eBook/article or any portion
thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner
without the publisher’s permission, except for using brief quotations in a book review.
Published by Five House Publishing (New Zealand)
First Publishing, March 2023
More eBooks and articles are available at https://fivehousepublishing.com/
More about the author at http://williamvanzyl.com/
