Here’s Why 2019 Will Bring Debates About Ethics of Artificial Intelligence
The tech industry is racing towards an AI-laden future at a breakneck pace in a manner quite reminiscent of the microprocessor race of the late 70s. In this case we’re stepping beyond the ability to perform calculations quickly and have instead opened the floodgate to legal and ethical questions that seemed a century away before the turn of the millennium. Are we prepared to take the necessary steps to ensure AI developments work for the betterment of mankind rather than its detriment?
At this point in time, there’s little point in ruminating on a future in which machine learning isn’t a dominant force in many facets of multiple industries. Major corporations have been snapping up AI-related startups as quickly as possible and have even poached top minds from one another. Apple has already in a move that is clearly focused on raising the company’s stakes in near-future AI developments while also depriving resources from their competitors in the form of noted industry experts.
Making moves that are so open and public means there are few secrets left regarding just how quickly research and development will be ramping up for most facets of AI. As it stands, companies are already folding automated workers into accounting and data collation to remove the need for tedious and time-consuming efforts run by larger teams of human workers. Many of these jobs would be nearly impossible without machine intervention. For example, finding that match an individual’s tastes and preferences would be a monumental task for any business without a helpful computer handling their cases.
It’s no surprise just how many people are concerned that the rate of artificial intelligence industry growth combined with its lack of hard regulation might shape our near future.
Nothing can stop an industry before it starts quite as quickly as regulations that fail to address key issues while also overreacting to potential abuse.
