Artificial Intelligence
Opinions and views on AI
"Artificial Intelligence (AI) is an infant at best. Once it becomes a teenager and believes it is smarter than its parents, will it rebel?"
- Dave Waters
Introduction
Developments in artificial intelligence and human enhancement technologies have the potential to remake American society in the coming decades. A Pew Research Center survey and OFA form finds that Americans see promise in the ways these technologies could improve daily life and human abilities. Yet public views are also defined by the context of how these technologies would be used, what constraints would be in place and who would stand to benefit – or lose – if these advances become widespread.
Views on AI
Younger Generation vs. Older Generation
Data: Familiarity
As a sort of introduction to the survey, we first asked our cohorts (the younger generation) how much they knew about AI on a scale of 1-5 to gauge the reliability of their future answers. According to the responses from the google form, the vast majority of them (91.3%) were at least a 3 in familiarity of the field of AI.
Data: Anticipations
The next thing we asked was if our audience was more concerned, excited or equally concerned and excited for AI's potential use in reality. 8.7% people were more excited, 21.7% were more concerned and 69.6% were equally concerned and excited. This data is similar to the older generation data that had 18% excited, 37% concerned and 45% equally concerned and excited. This suggests that both generations are wary of AI advancement but recognize its potential in modern day usage.
Older Generation
Younger Generation
Older Generation
Data: Morality
When we asked the younger generation if they believed AI would be able to make morally correct decisions in the future, 46.2% of people considered it possible, 46.2% were unsure, and a small percentage of 7.7% considered it impossible. In general, they’re a lot more optimistic about it. When asked the same question to the older generation, it’s quite a split opinion. 30% considered it possible, 28% think it’s impossible, and 41% are unsure. This shows the varying views on their beliefs in future AI applications.
Younger Generation
Data: Daily Impact
We then proceeded to list a series of events that would occur in one's life and inquired with our recipients if they would feel comfortable with AI interfering with these occurrences. Such events include household chores, workplace tasks, medical issues, customer service, important life decisions, and knowing thoughts/behaviors of people. We found that the majority of people had some concerns regardless of whether they were excited or not for most of the questions.
Summary
According to the data, we found that most people have some concerns about AI’s ability to make morally correct decisions and influence our daily lives. These concerns are well founded as many institutions, such as military and private companies, have demonstrated the potential effectiveness of AI as killing and surveillance machines. Without proper regulation and control over the AI, we could have a grim future ahead of us, but if utilized correctly, AI could take humanity to new heights and open many frontiers for us. The gears of innovation keep turning and the relationship between AI and humanity is blurred and constantly changing. Many questions are being raised about whether we should embrace or fear our new creations. This is why in our day and age of technological reign, we must all be educated and informed about technology as a whole so that we as a collective can make a rational and reasonable decision to decide AI’s role in our future, as that future is much closer than it seems.
Further Research: AI Weaponry
“Slaughterbots” also know as Autonomous AI weapons are controversial in the field of technology and ethics. These are small, armed drones equipped with advanced artificial intelligence and autonomous targeting capabilities, capable of identifying and engaging targets without direct human intervention. These mini drones are able to wipe out half a city with just a swarm of 10,000 drones which is equal to 10 million U.S dollars. Even though these mini drones are really dangerous, it can still save soldiers lives if war was fought with these machines.
Citations
Rainie, L. (2022, March 17). Ai and human enhancement: Americans’ openness is tempered by a range of concerns. Pew Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech. https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2022/03/17/ai-and-human-enhancement-americans-openness-is-tempered-by-a-range-of-concerns/
Lee, K.-F. (2022, December 16). The third revolution in Warfare. The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2021/09/i-weapons-are-third-revolution-warfare/620013/
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Facial Recognition
A look into the invasiveness of facial recognition in our lives.
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Driverless Vehicles
The fears and excitement surrounding driverless cars in our society.
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Biotechnology
To what extent should humans be allowed to implement machinery into our physical selves.
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Homepage
The home page of this cohort
