Ingenieur Vol 89 2022 | Page 64

INGENIEUR
INGENIEUR
businesses are rapidly multiplying into many new services , ranging from laundry to shopping , from chores to parking , from massages to travel .
On the whole , there are four main effects that the Fourth Industrial Revolution has on business — on customer expectations , on product enhancement , on collaborative innovation , and on organisational forms .
The Fourth Industrial Revolution will change not only what we do but also who we are . It will affect our identity and all the issues associated with it : our sense of privacy , our notions of ownership , our consumption patterns , the time we devote to work and leisure , how we develop our careers , cultivate our skills , meet people , and nurture relationships . It is already changing our health and leading us to a “ quantified ” self , and sooner than we think , it may lead to human augmentation . The list is endless because it is bound only by our imagination .
In the end , it all comes down to people and values . We need to shape a future that works for all of us by putting people first and empowering them . In its most pessimistic , dehumanised form , the Fourth Industrial Revolution may indeed have the potential to “ robotise ” humanity and thus deprive us of our heart and soul . But as a complement to the best parts of human nature — creativity , empathy , stewardship — it can also lift humanity to a new collective and moral consciousness based on a shared sense of destiny . It is incumbent on us all to make sure the latter prevails .
Should We Be Afraid of AI - Forbes
The fear of AI seems to stem from a few common causes : general anxiety about machine intelligence , the fear of mass unemployment , concerns about super-intelligence , putting the power of AI into the wrong people ’ s hands , and general concern and caution when it comes to new technology .
General anxiety about AI One of the most widespread fears of AI is just general anxiety about it and what it is potentially capable of . A recurring theme in movies and science fiction is AI systems that go rogue . The fear is that as AI systems are becoming more intelligent and human intelligence surrounding these systems is increasing , there is no clear direction where things could go .
AI is a Job Killer Another major fear of AI is rooted in the idea of mass unemployment of human workers , replaced by AI workers . A big concern is that in the previous wave of automation , mostly blue-collar jobs like manufacturing-oriented jobs were automated away ; in this new wave , it will be mostly whitecollar service-oriented jobs , based around knowledge workers , that will bear the brunt of intelligent forms of automation .
The fact is that a lot of industries are already being disrupted by the advancement of technology and a lot of it has nothing to do with AI . Rather , it is due to automation and streamlining processes that make it easier and quicker to go about inputting work for ourselves and not relying on businesses and other organisations to be the middleman when it comes to getting things done .
Bad People Doing Bad Things Another common fear of AI is that bad actors can do bad things when it comes to AI . Leaders in Russia say that whoever leads the advancement of AI will be one of the top rulers of the world . It is no surprise that countries are pouring significant amounts of investment and research into developing AI systems from everything to military advancement to intelligence systems that can influence the news . We can expect Governments to continue to use AI systems in ways that will make us increasingly uncomfortable in the ways they are applied to warfare , surveillance , law enforcement , and other purposes .
The fear is all stemming from the unknown . In addition , there hasn ’ t been a strong counterargument as to what could be the best way to approach this particular scenario and what it means for the future .
The Super-Intelligence Probably the biggest fear of AI making media waves is that of super intelligence or that AI will reach a point where it doesn ’ t care for or about the existence of humanity anymore , such as what happened with Skynet in the Terminator series of movies . Technology will get to a point where it can teach itself and improve and invent on its own ,
62 VOL 89 JANUARY-MARCH 2022