Since the advent of ChatGPT 4 at the end of 2022, the changes that generative AI has made to the world have been visible to the naked eye. While it brings countless conveniences to our lives, its potential negative effects cannot be underestimated, and discussions in this area are nothing new.
In less than a year and a half, the "sudden change": whether it is the risk of a large number of unemployment, or the endless use of artificial intelligence to defraud, people who used to laugh at artificial intelligence as "artificial retardation" are now worried, will generative artificial intelligence really become a "Pandora's box"?
Artificial intelligence, the potential harm cannot be ignored?
It is not only the public who is worried about whether the box will be opened, but also policymakers in various countries: according to foreign media, just recently, a study funded by the US government warned that artificial intelligence will bring "uncontrollable" consequences. Fears have been expressed about AI-powered cyberattacks and the potential job losses caused by AI replacing jobs.
Neither of these is unfounded: Let's start with cyberattacks: In the case of the United States, for example, the country's industrial and healthcare systems still rely heavily on legacy systems that have been handed down for decades, often with very weak protections, and the advent of artificial intelligence will make it easier to exploit these vulnerabilities to attack systems, and these attacks can "come and go" and be difficult to detect and mitigate due to the sophisticated technology used.
According to foreign media, Stuart Madnick, a professor of engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, even believes that with the popularity of generative artificial intelligence, people are increasingly worried that physical attacks will become the next stage of cybercrime.
How horrific is this attack? Madnik said his team had simulated a cyberattack in a lab that resulted in an explosion. They were able to hack into a computer-controlled motor with a pump, incinerate it, causing the thermometer to malfunction, the gauge to clog and the circuit to short-circuit, and eventually explode in the lab – far from being a normal cyberattack, which simply takes the system offline temporarily.
"If it's a typical cyberattack that causes a power plant to shut down, it's back up and running very quickly, but if it's a hacker who causes the power plant to explode or burn down, it's not a day or two to get back up and running, but it takes weeks or even months because a lot of the parts in these specialized systems are custom-made. People don't realize that downtime can be long", says Madenik. And such an attack "is tantamount to war."
If the destructive power of AI-driven "hackers" is "far away", then its impact on jobs may be "imminent".
In the past, the problem of unemployment was mainly focused on manual labor, but since the popularity of artificial intelligence, so-called white-collar jobs, now known as "intellectual workers", are considered to face a higher risk of substitution. According to employment outsourcing firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, the U.S. economy lost 4,000 jobs to AI in May 2023 alone.
Behind each round of layoffs of knowledge workers, there is an explicit or implicit threat of AI: LinkedIn, for example, laid off nearly 700 people, many of whom are engineers, and while LinkedIn has not explicitly stated that AI is involved in the decision, it suggests that AI replacing high-value skilled workers may not be alarmist.
In addition to the technological world, in the field of art, which seems to rely heavily on creativity, AI has become more "killing", replacing the work of traditional artists.
At the beginning of this year, Sora was born, sounding the unemployment alarm in the film and television industry. The panic of "being replaced" spread on social platforms. According to Chao News, just a year ago, director Lu Chuan mentioned that asking artificial intelligence to help him draw a movie poster, "the effect of 15 seconds is better than that of a professional poster company for a month." And the "original artists" in the game industry, under the machete of artificial intelligence, also have many lost their armor.
The impact of artificial intelligence is likely to continue: according to foreign media, the British Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) warned that according to current government policies, as many as 8 million British workers are at risk of losing their jobs due to artificial intelligence. AI is already affecting 11% of UK employees' jobs, and that number could rise to nearly 60% if businesses integrate AI technology more deeply. Part-time, entry-level, and back-office jobs, such as customer service, are most at risk, but high-paying jobs will increasingly be affected.
Artificial intelligence could cost millions of jobs in the UK
Source: IPPR
Artificial intelligence, perhaps, is not so bad
But bad luck may just be an alarmist: compared to the beautiful vision, the "harm" of artificial intelligence may not be so big!
According to a recent survey by Tata Consultancy Services (Tata), the arrival of AI is more likely to provide a roadmap for humanity to get rid of its worst impulses and create a better and fairer world.
The survey measured the views of 21 futurists around the world on AI. Ninety percent of respondents are optimistic about the changes generative AI will bring to the way people work, with nearly half of them saying they are "very optimistic." And 75% of respondents believe that the adoption of AI will help small businesses expand into new markets and appeal to a wider customer base.
The general consensus is that AI will significantly improve the work experience and may bring benefits, such as shorter working hours and smoother careers. To sum up, artificial intelligence is not here to grab jobs, but to help people.
Image source: Tata Consultancy
Frank Diana, Tata's managing partner and chief futurist, said: "We are now at a point in time where science and technology can advance humanity in a way we have not seen in a long time". According to his predictions, the ubiquity of artificial intelligence will herald innovations in transportation, energy, medical care, and communications.
This view is at odds with that of some prominent tech leaders, who have warned, either explicitly or implicitly, that AI will surpass human intelligence within a few years. In Silicon Valley, too, there is a big divide between techno-optimists and doomsdayists.
Dian argues that apocalyptic scenarios distract people and diminish the potential of technology, and that discussions around conscious robots and artificial superintelligence are holding us back. If AI is managed properly, people will instead talk about all the great things that AI does for humanity.
Today, in the traditional perception of the general public, artificial intelligence is often negative, and its roots are in the 70s of the 20th century, when the theme of Hollywood movies was full of fear of technology, which matched the mood of the people at that time (economic stagflation). But until then, technology was seen as something that could one day change human lives.
Writer and futurist Bernard Marr, who did not participate in the survey, agrees with the more optimistic idea.
"I see all the amazing benefits that AI can bring, and I see it every day," he said. I believe that AI is the most powerful technology humanity has ever had access to, and that this power can be used to combat inequalities and address the challenges of health, education and climate change."
Marr further stated that there is still a long way to go before AI becomes a sentient person. But AI is very, very good at doing things that used to be only humans, and mundane things waste human power, while AI allows people to focus on their own unique "amazing" powers.
Specifically, Marr said that "AI will make the relationship between doctors and patients better". How will the insurance and regulatory paperwork that now exhausts doctors be taken over by AI, freeing up doctors to spend more time with patients, also known as "smart healthcare."
There is no doubt that, given the terrible power that AI brings, it is necessary to put in place regulations, laws, and safeguards to prevent misuse. But the question is, why do people instinctively feel fear when they think of artificial intelligence?
Out of fear of the unknown, when people talk about living AI, they often immediately dismiss it as a "bad omen". However, humans with IQ can also be benevolent or values-neutral, but fundamentally different from what is commonly thought of as artificial intelligence.
According to foreign media, Kelsey Latimer, a clinical psychologist in Florida who specializes in anxiety disorders, said that the reason why people are afraid of artificial intelligence lies in human nature itself, and humans are inherently prepared for the worst - this is caution engraved in the bones!
Specifically, from an evolutionary point of view, we always want to see negative and terrible things in advance so that we can prepare for them. If we think something is bad, but it turns out to be positive, it doesn't hurt anything. If we think something is positive but the result is negative, then there is often a need to prepare for the consequences, and "foresight" tends to reduce the loss.
While AI has all sorts of risks, it's not that scary. As mentioned earlier, with the help of artificial intelligence, the passion and creativity that we humans can do will shine through: AI should not be a restriction on freedom, but a facilitation.
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