developments in the field of technology

developments in the field of technology

The twenty-first centur4y has witnessed various developments in the field of technology as new developments emerge, and more inventions are made. One of the significant progress that can be attributed to the advancement in technology is the development of artificial intelligence, which has impacted people’s lives in various ways through the changes it presents in multiple aspects of human life, including social interaction (Marti, par 1). Artificial Intelligence (AI) is an intelligence that is displayed by machines that are different from natural human intellect. Over the years, the use of artificial intelligence has become widespread being incorporated in various aspects of human life through the various process. As people learn to appreciate the use of AI and some of the benefits associated with it, research continues to allow for the advancement of the nature of the current artificial intelligence to a more advanced state to discover the maximum potential of artificial intelligence (Joshi, par 1). Artificial intelligence agents function by emulation the cognitive functions of human abilities. They are thereby used to enhance the chances of success due to their problem-solving characteristics, which makes it possible for the AI agents to provide solutions for various challenges. Unlike the human mind, artificial intelligence agents rely on statistical data, which enhances their chances of success, which has enabled them to gain prominence. In as much as these qualities of making the artificial intelligence agents more reliable, they pose significant threats in terms of cybersecurity, loss of job of opportunities, prevention of innovation and creativity as further advancement in artificial intelligence is perceived to pose a threat to the human race.

While AI has been able to aid in various processes in industries making the processes more efficient, it has presented a chance for hackers to access confidential information through hacking into the artificial intelligence systems that have been set up in the organizations making it more of a threat as the organizations stand to lose data that could sabotage their operations. Most organizations have incorporated the use of computer systems through various processes to enable the execution of different technical processes. However, cybersecurity is one of the significant concerns associated with artificial intelligence in the twenty-first century, as various hackers have developed ways of accessing information from the computers that have been installed in multiple organizations.

The biggest hack in history occurred in 2013 when one of the giant Websites, Yahoo, was hacked, affecting approximately three billion accounts which were compromised due to access to client data by the hackers. When hackers obtain information from these organizations, it presents significant consequences as the secrets and strategies of the organizations are exposed to their competitors who make the organizations less competitive. Some of the information obtained can reveal secrets that can result in the shutting down of the organization. Due to over dependence of these organizations on the artificial intelligence agents, moist organizations have been compelled to take strategic measures to secure their systems which have resulted to an increase in the operational cost of the organization as resources have been channeled towards ensuring that the systems within the organizations are safe from hacking. Though this strategy has been useful for some organizations, it has led to the increased cost of operation as security measures have to be improved regularly due to the ever-changing landscape of the cyber world.

The use of artificial intelligence presents various advantages in the corporate world, as can be depicted in the high prevalence of the use of machines in multiple organizations. However, while the AI agents have been able to improve operations within various organizations, they have replaced various people in their jobs leading to the high rates of unemployment as jobs that were previously handled by human beings are now handled by machines. Machines are proffered over human beings for various reasons, one of which includes the fact that they are not limited by fatigue. Unlike human beings, robots can work for longer hours without getting fatigued; hence are more reliable for strenuous processes. Another significant advantage that the machines have over the human population is that they can multitask. It presents a situation where a single machine handles operations that could have been carried out by various people. Machines also offer a high level of accuracy due to their reliability in statistical data analysis. These attributes make machines more reliable in effectively executing multiple processes in the industries; hence most employers have resorted to the use of AI agents as a replacement for human beings in most of the simple and complex tasks in various industries (“Fatal Tesla Crash Sparks Federal Investigation” par 2). This situation has rendered many people unemployed and increased to the level of employment within the society as multiple processes that could have been handled by different people are now handled by machines hence slimming down on the job opportunities within the various organizations. Another reason why most employers are likely to replace human beings with machines is that unlike machines, human beings have multiple needs that increase the operation cost in various organizations. These needs include necessities such as medical insurance and motivational benefits, which machines do not require. These necessities increase the operational costs of the organization; hence employers are most likely to prefer the use of artificial intelligence agents over human beings.

Artificial intelligence agents have also been incorporated in various aspects of individual life to aid in multiple tasks such as driving, parking, and acquisition of knowledge, communication, and reasoning, amongst other activities. While these services rendered by AI agents portray them as helpful and resourceful, they promote laziness among people while hindering creativity and innovation among people. One of the effects of AI that presents a threat to humanity its use in human communication. Various communication devices have the Siri software installed in them, which they rely on to carry out their communication with their partners through a recorded or automated voice message (“Inside Story” par 3). Interpersonal human communication is significant as people can develop skills through their interaction. Various communication requires responses that enable people to think out of the box and engage their minds to provide appropriate answers. As they reason out their reactions in multiple arguments, they can attain intellectual through shared experiences. In recent decades when technology was still in its primitive form, the primary difference between man and machinery was the ability for emotional connection. However, artificial intelligence has been able to bridge this gap, as depicted in one of the movies that depict the effects of artificial intelligence, “Her.” The 2013 film produced by Megan Ellison depicts a situation where Theodore, the main character in the film, falls in love with his form due to the artificial intelligence system installed on the phone, which is named Samantha. Samantha can connect emotionally with Theodore after Theodore after he feeds his information into the system upon purchase. In the movie, the effects of AI ion the substitution of human connections have been theorized portraying AI as a significant threat to social interaction. The use of AI agents among students in carrying out various educational activities has been an obstacle to innovation and creativity among the students as they can find solutions to multiple issues. Numerous people rely on the aid of the AI agents to enable them to interpret various human emotions hence losing their sense of empathy. The overreliance on AI agents to understand human emotions is most likely to turn people into cyborgs, thus presenting a significant threat to social interaction.

However, the most significant threat that artificial intelligence poses on the human race is the extinction of the human race. Technological advancement is a progressive process and is most likely to have more developments in the future. There are various speculations regarding the next level of artificial intelligence, which is known as artificial general intelligence (AGI). It portrays an advanced stage of artificial intelligence that is currently hypothetical where the machines will be able to learn and execute all the intellectual tasks that human beings perform. AGI is currently a theme for various science fiction movies. It has been the primary target for numerous research studies with the speculation of the creation of machines that can express consciousness (Joshi, par 4). These advancements, however, raise critical concerns as to the fate of the human race in relation to the advanced machines. One of the theories suggests that the advancement of technology will enable the machines to have god-like abilities of self-advancement and may engage in self-advancement practices that the human brain may not be able to comprehend hence making them more superior than human beings in all aspects of human life and more (Lee, par 2). When machines take over the self-advancement, human beings will be rendered powerless as they will lose their ability to control these machines hence the fate of human beings will be at the mercy of the AGI agents which presents a significant threat for human existence as the AGI may end up taking over the universe and bringing the human race to extinction. Even with these threats at hand, the fascination of human beings with technology still drives them to carry out various research on how to advance artificial intelligence systems. In the military research, I research is directed towards the use of AI agents as weapons. However, this presents a significant threat if the AI systems shift their target to human beings due to system malfunction or actions of rogue individuals.

Amid all these negative perceptions of AI systems, the invention of AI systems was due to the various benefits that were associated with the use of these systems and the changes that the systems were bound to present in the lives of people.AI agents were designed to improve the efficiency of human beings in their execution of various processes within the working environment and improve on their interaction by enabling them to comprehend multiple issues that would have been rather difficult to interpret. Artificial intelligent agents are designed as helping tools to enhance the functional ability of people as they engage in various activities and their benefits can be seen in various fields such as journalism (Martin, par 2). For example, in the workplace, people are subjected to different situations that present multiple threats in the workplace; the introduction of AI intelligence in the work processes was intended to mitigate these risks. However, even with all the good intentions on the benefits of the AI systems and their role in enhancing human effectiveness, the threats outweigh the benefits as the AI systems are bound to interrupt various aspects of human life with further advancement in the AI systems into the AGI systems being speculated to pose significant threats to the existence of human race.

The invention of artificial intelligence systems is one of the significant attributes of the advancement of technology. However, the AI systems have had various significant impacts on human life, which has raised multiple concerns on the need of the AI agents and the magnitude of their effects on various aspects of human life. Though the primary intention of the invention of AI systems was to improve human life, numerous disadvantages are associated with the use of AI agents in society. However, the most significant threat is bound to be posed by the advancement of AI intelligence to the AGI intelligence which will be capable of learning and executing all the intelligent activities that can be done by human beings as they will be able to replace human beings in their various functions hence presenting the possibility of extinction of human race. While the AI systems are of significant benefit to human beings, research should be focused on mitigating the adverse effects of AI. More research should be focused on the disadvantages of the advancement of AGI to avoid the significant threats that are related to the improvement of AI systems.