AI: should we be afraid of artificial intelligence?

Artificial intelligence is more and more present in our daily lives, changing our habits and our way of life. If the subject fascinates a lot of people, the notion of artificial intelligence still remains unclear to many people. So some questions arise: what is an artificial intelligence and what is it used for? Can we trust it? We will go around the subject in this article.

Definition of artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence (AI) is an artificial neural network that mimics human intelligence. It is based on the creation of algorithms in a dynamic computer environment. The goal is to create machines (computers) capable of thinking and acting like humans.

For John McCarthy, the father of artificial intelligence, it is “the science and engineering of making intelligent machines, especially intelligent computer programs.

Three components are needed to achieve this:

• A computer system
• Data with management systems
• Code or advanced AI algorithm

The implementation of an AI is done through long training and testing phases. All of this ensures a formidable efficiency and therefore faster and more accurate results.

AI through machine learning and deep learning allow us to have very advanced tools capable of providing solutions in many areas.

Uses of AI

Today, AI is used in almost every area of life to revolutionize our daily lives. It can be found in the field of justice and law, in food safety, in music, and even in finance (algorithmic trading, market analysis, personal finance, portfolio management, etc.). Here are some concrete examples:

AI in the medical field

Artificial intelligence is used in medicine as a decision support tool for medical diagnosis. They allow to design treatment plans, create drugs, provide consultations, etc.

AI in the automotive and aviation industries

The artificial intelligence revolution has led to the emergence of autonomous cars and technologies to reduce the number of accidents due to lack of concentration. In the aviation industry, robots have been created to determine the best flight plan and even to prevent plane crashes.

Daily uses of AI

AI is present in video games. Indeed, it is with an artificial intelligence that you interact when you play. It can also be found in e-mails to block unwanted emails, in search engines to find precise results to queries, with the voice assistant of your smartphone to find a place or even on navigation applications to determine the shortest route.

Should we be afraid of artificial intelligence?

AI tools have an Achilles heel: they are not as reliable as one would like.

The risks of artificial intelligence

For example, it is possible to fool image recognition applications by using small stickers. There are also obvious misunderstandings with machine translation due to imperfect understanding of texts.

The good example is that the AI does not understand the negative form. You can even do a simple test: ask the voice assistant on your iPhone: “Find me a restaurant that does not make pizza”.

The deadly accident in March 2018 with an Uber autonomous vehicle is one of the great examples of AI flaws. The software had simply failed to identify the victim in the night, a woman pushing her bike across the road.

Efforts for a trusted AI

The artificial intelligence tools we have today are trained to perform and optimize given tasks, but don’t understand anything about what they are doing. Researchers call this a “lack of common sense”.

A group of 52 experts convened by the EC (European Commission) published a list of rules for trusted artificial intelligence in April 2019. But the problem is that the technical solutions to achieve this still do not exist.

Inventing these solutions remains a big challenge for the French government, the US Army Research Agency and many other institutions. Until these solutions are available, it is advisable to use AI in moderation and not to rely on it entirely.

Advantages and disadvantages of artificial intelligence

The benefits of AI

The many uses of arterial intelligence are aimed at improving human life. There are many benefits that come from this:

Time saving

More than humans, machines think fast and can perform multiple tasks quickly. Using them on repetitive jobs that are monotonous or dangerous in nature saves humans an enormous amount of time.

Precision

Neural networks, especially in Big Data and Cloud Computing, are able to group and process very large amounts of data with precision. This allows them to reduce errors, which is why they are used as decision support tools in many fields.

No breaks

Unlike humans, machines don’t need breaks or repeated refreshments. They work 24/7 without getting distracted or succumbing to fatigue.

The drawbacks of artificial intelligence

Like anything else, artificial intelligence has drawbacks that cannot be overlooked. These include:

High cost

The creation and use of artificial intelligence requires a very high investment in terms of time, knowledge and cost. Also, its repair involves huge costs.

No feelings

Machines have no moral values or emotions. They are designed to perform known tasks and are unable to take initiative in a situation that has not been taught to them.

No evolution with experience

Artificial intelligence learns through training, but it is unable to question any of its functions. It is therefore necessary to continually update the algorithms to improve it and respond to new needs.

Unemployment

Artificial intelligence is a double-edged sword. It is capable of doing the work of a dozen or even a hundred people, and even better than them. It thus replaces humans and reduces the number of workers, sending them to unemployment.