With the rapid rise of artificial intelligence, our world is changing more than ever before. As this technology becomes more helpful and integrated into our daily lives, it’s hard to see the downsides of these emerging tools. However, the power of AI cannot be understated. The tools now at our disposal can help create enormous good or used to do extreme harm. The latter is the concerning part and where we’ll delve into our exploration of the ethicality of AI.
Although it may not seem like AI has made its way into our lives yet, that is far from the truth. The technology has already become mainstream, and the most glaring and obvious example of this is social media. The algorithms that the massive companies use to decide what to show us on our screens are almost always entirely run by AI. Although the algorithms on Facebook and TikTok might seem harmless, in reality, they bring up the larger question of data and privacy. These companies harvest and collect vast amounts of data to keep refining their algorithms to keep you hooked on their app. Through all of this data, they might even have a better understanding of you than your friends, or maybe even yourself. The ethics of running AI off of this enormous pool of data is questionable at best, and despicable at worst. These algorithms create a massive breach of privacy to the general public, with the idea of private life being virtually destroyed in the modern world. The swaths of data can also cause massive concentrations of power in the few companies that have access to that data. The documentary The Social Dilemma dives a lot deeper into this topic through the lens of former top employees of these massive conglomerates and I invite anyone who’s interested in learning more to watch it on Netflix.
There are a multitude of other ways the ethicality of AI comes into question. A notable example includes biased algorithms and machines, where the training data for an AI could have a skew towards a certain race, gender, etc. This could creates a bias in an AI’s skill and ability. Another example is the increasing automation in workplaces, potentially replacing a wide array of jobs from truck drivers to factory workers. These displaced workers will all need new jobs to survive and make a living. Even more examples include manipulative deepfakes, mass surveillance, disinformation, and much more.
In the next part, we’ll be tackling some potential solutions to these problems, as well as some ways that these issues are already being dealt with. These ideas are truly fascinating and could help us more towards a better future with AI.
Ryan Lee is a Student Ambassador in the Inspirit AI Student Ambassadors Program. Inspirit AI is a pre-collegiate enrichment program that exposes curious high school students globally to AI through live online classes. Learn more at www.inspiritai.com.
