AI future changing fast

By Kiara Behrendt & Kaila Powell

Layout Editor & Lifestyle Co-Editor 

Several experts in artificial intelligence warned at a journalism conference in November on Oahu that the new technology is greatly impacting a variety of careers, and could become even smarter than their human creators. 

The SPJ Hawaii conference “Journalism at the Edge, Looking to the Future,” included panelists Mahdi Belcaid, a faculty member at the University of Hawaii, at Manoa, Dane Dupont, co-founder of the non-profit Hawaii Volcano Education and Resilience Institute, and Sukhwa Hong, a faculty member at the University of Hawaii, Hilo. 

They spoke to about 40 journalists, educators, and students about AI’s abilities and flaws, as well as its effect on the future of jobs.

Certain professions are being ‘pummeled’ already such as art and logo design, the presenters said. So far, industries that include manual labor or natural speech are more difficult for AI to master. 

However,  “Years of research is advancing in months” said Hong.

Dupont added, “It’s going to be wild. It could be good, it could be bad, just hold on to your hats.” 

Belcaid cautioned that AI is here to stay, so  “It is important for us to learn how we can use it in an ethical way.”