by Vito Coviello, Member of the AIDR Foundation - Head of the Digital Technologies Observatory in the Transport and Logistics sector
Anyone who has never heard of artificial intelligence (AI) raise your hand or, better, answer with a click of the mouse.
Well, no clicks, no raising of hands as I supposed!
Seriously, in recent times I have had the opportunity to hear the most varied answers on AI from passers-by, in BARs and on TV, confirming that if we are not yet fully aware of the impacts that artificial intelligence will have on our daily lives, at least we talk about it.
I submitted the first questions on the subject to a chatbot, to get an answer directly from the first software currently available, which simulate and process human conversations. Chatbots give us the opportunity to interact with these new digital devices and give us the impression of communicating as if we were dealing with a real person.
These were the answers to my two questions.
Q: What is AI for you?
R (chatbot): “… for me, as artificial intelligence, AI is a field of computer science and science that deals with creating systems or programs capable of performing tasks that normally require human intelligence. The main objective of AI is to develop algorithms and models that allow a machine to learn from data, draw conclusions, make decisions and carry out actions autonomously or semi-autonomously. AI can be divided into two main categories: 1. Weak AI (Applied AI): This category of AI is focused on specific and narrow tasks. The goal is to create systems that are experts in a particular area, such as speech recognition, facial recognition, machine translation, chess or autonomous driving. Weak AI has no self-awareness or understanding, it is bound to the context in which it was programmed or trained. 2. Strong AI (General AI) …”.
Q: What is Strong AI?
R (chatbot): “…Strong AI, also known as Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), is a theoretical concept in Artificial Intelligence. It refers to a type of artificial intelligence that possesses human-comparable understanding, learning, and reasoning ability, and that can successfully perform any intellectual task that a human can do. The goal of strong AI is to create an artificial intelligence that is not only specialized in a specific task, but is able to deal with a wide range of tasks and all new situations flexibly, just as they do the human beings. This type of AI would have a true understanding of the world, with capabilities for self-learning, generalization of knowledge, and solving complex problems. Some distinguishing characteristics of strong AI include: high learning capacity which would allow to acquire new knowledge and skills through experience and observation, improving over time without needing to be re-programmed…”.
I have to admit that reading the answer on AI Forte, a little anxiety could assail me who am an average reader and many others like me because, as the chatbot friendly replies to me, the goal of the AI forte is to “… create an artificial intelligence that is not only specialized in a specific task, but that is able to deal with a wide range of tasks and all new situations in a flexible way, just like humans do…”.
I was a little concerned by the final part of the sentence where it says that AI will be able to deal with a wide range of tasks and situations in a flexible way, just like humans do.
In fact, surfing the web, in ever deeper and more perilous waters, I discovered that there are really many people who are launching cries of alarm about a possible risk of destruction of humanity caused by new super intelligent forms of AI.
What will be true? The mind takes us back in time when several science fiction films anticipated some of the potential of AI that today is becoming reality and available for daily use.
Science fiction anticipates reality, at times… also because it uses ideas and research that are in an embryonic state awaiting the technology that will then allow them to be transferred into real applications and prototypes.
Spielberb's film Minority Report (year: 2002) partly inspired by the 1956 book The Minority Report by Philip Dick, tells of a future where electronic surveillance reaches unlimited levels up to projecting and predicting actions in the future. And going a little further back in time, Tron in 1982 anticipates some topics on virtual reality and security that are real today if we think of cybersecurity and the support that AI is starting to give in this area.
But what is the opinion of ordinary people about AI? I tried asking a few people from different sectors of society.
Leonardo (Student) who did a research on AI concludes as follows: "... there is a lot of talk about artificial intelligence, I think an uncertain and indecipherable future awaits us, and yet, I am fascinated by this insecurity ... I don't know if it is right or wrong that software codes establish what is right or what is wrong, we will only know in the future. … I think that for now we should act conscientiously, realizing that haste leads nowhere, and dwell a little more on the little things, enjoying at least a little what characterizes us and distinguishes us: progress cannot – and it must not – be stopped, but maybe slowing it down can give us precious time to spend understanding what we are about to face and researching what to do next… ”.
Raimondo (Insurance branch): “… as with any innovation, the use that will be made of it makes and will make the difference. I imagine AI, for example, applied to medicine, to the possibility of performing surgeries, even complex ones, remotely without physical presence. Among the cons, like every new discovery and its evolution, AI also creates doubts and fears for most. The risk of losing jobs, I believe, is people's greatest fear. The possibility of losing control of it, perhaps today more science fiction than reality, can be considered a real risk. Unfortunately, human beings tend, out of greed and selfishness in the search for wealth and power, to use new discoveries in a decidedly negative way, often in warfare or, worse, to subjugate peoples. As with other inventions, human beings, with their actions, bring risks, problems, inconveniences and the worst that can be imagined. Artificial Intelligence runs the same risk…”.
Francesco (Local police): “… The risks I see are primarily the lack of regulation. As always, we arrive late or when the games are over. The other risks come from the devices that must be used, which are necessarily invasive and unpredictable. Here too it is necessary to legislate on a global level as well as correctly informing the user. Another risk that is no less important is the excess of trust and expectations regarding the innovations of technology. Everything must be moderate and well calibrated to avoid abuse and abuse. AI has everything positive if its application is curbed and controlled, both in the medical and technological fields in general. The remote control should be limited to the materials and not projected on the control of the will and this seems difficult to obtain…”.
Daniela (Nurse): AI presents risks of excessive dependence and can lead man to eliminate thought, creativity, originality, authenticity and loss of human relationships…we will make friends with AI who will tell us what we want to hear. It could be the cause of the loss of work and the growth of inequalities in addition to the many ethical problems and for the work I do I already see many). Having reached the pinnacle of culture and intelligence, we will self-destruct as humanity.
But AI also has benefits: perhaps a better organization of transport services and systems… I believe that the smartest and most selfish will earn more and more money at the expense of a humanity that will have less and less critical spirit.
As far as I'm concerned… I stay old-fashioned and interacting with human beings as 'human' will always be my favorite thing…”.
A strong interest emerges from these interviews, as always happens for every innovation destined to deeply modify our approach to the daily management of living. Everyone is aware of the positive aspects of AI in many sectors, but then there are fears of negative impacts, first and foremost on the loss of many jobs.
In fact, the first signs of job cuts are arriving: the news of the end of June is that of the German newspaper Bild which cuts 200 jobs, all journalists from the various regional offices: they have been replaced by artificial intelligence.
The words of Sam Altman, CEO of Open AI, when he says that this technology allows for the development of new models that could pose a risk to humanity, are also very thought-provoking. The decision of George Hinton, a pioneer of artificial intelligence, who would resign because he realized that AI represents a threat to humanity and now, given his resignation, will now be able to speak freely about the problems is also controversial that this innovation presents for mankind.
What is certain is that we are faced with a great new technological potential that opens up to boundless applications, which will be particularly useful for humanity but, if not carefully managed, could also represent serious risks.
So what to do? I think we have to start from the phrase attributed to Henry Ford, American industrialist and founder of the homonymous car manufacturer at the time of the first mass production of cars: '.. there is true progress only when the advantages of a new technology become for everyone …'
It is evident that a great investment race is underway by the most industrialized countries of the world, above all the USA and China, and this is because the potential economic, social, ethical and military implications of progress in the field of artificial intelligence are great. But the great investment race for artificial intelligence should involve all countries to ensure that there is full sharing of the benefits and unfortunately, as often happens, this is not the case.
AI will revolutionize the production system of every country and risks revolutionizing many of the balances existing today, the strong repercussions in the context of moral and social systems are quite predictable, because there are so many sectors involved: just think of the progress in the field of healthcare, high-tech industry, almost all economic sectors, innovation, mobility and many more.
What would be desirable? Considering that the technology capable of developing artificial intelligence is so powerful, all countries should work together to design and realize a future of prosperity, for everyone and for everyone.
What is likely to happen? The opposite is likely to happen: a global AI race began some time ago where whoever arrives first wins. The United States currently leads the way, with major tech companies planning heavy R&D investments. China follows closely, other countries such as Canada, Japan and South Korea are also in strong recovery.
And Europe? Europe as a whole appears to be lagging behind at the moment, but individual countries like France and Germany are starting to catch up.
Will AI be the cause of humanity's extinction? Hard to say, what is certain is that human beings have already been the main cause of the ongoing climate change which could lead us to extinction if we do not intervene in time and, therefore, we should hope that AI can help stop the acceleration of the drift that would lead humanity to extinction in a short time.