Although artificial intelligence will provide more help in everyday activities, there may be more than one way in which it proves to be inhumane. AI is currently being developed to learn certain tasks, like driving, computing, building, etc., but these are tasks that are currently being done by humans. The more AI becomes capable of doing, the fewer jobs will be available for humans, and unemployment will go up. Even Elon Musk admits that advancing AI may be an “existential threat” instead of a helping hand. Unfortunately, AI developers are mainly white and Asian men, which also influences a machine’s capability to recognize faces of color and voices with accents that aren’t mainstream. This becomes extremely problematic not only in recognition technology but as well as whole systems in which the algorithms become racially biased (Dwoskin).
Displayed above is the 1993 robot, Cog, described in the 1999 newspaper. Learn more about Cog at Robots.
Early Developments
Some of the first developments of advanced artificial intelligence are described in a 1999 newspaper. At that point, they were building a robot that could mimic human behavior by designing algorithms that would help the robot “experience the world as humans do, through sensory systems [and] degrees of movement.” Their goal was to develop a robot that could learn and adapt from its surroundings, meaning also something that humans could, and would, interact with. What they couldn’t predict was how future AI would influence life in the first half of the next century- especially when it was already impacting so many areas, a few being biological, educational, and cultural. In the short term, AI was not thought to be smart enough technology yet to be replacing humans in their jobs. However, the keyword there is yet. Even then, machines were learning how to grade papers and store data. Compared to today’s AI, such as 3D printing and self-driving cars(not to mention our everyday smartphones and laptops), it is clear how rapidly- and for how long- AI has influenced our lives (Spotts).