KEEPING AN EYE ON AI

Why AI is important

As human beings, our capacity to process data in big quantities is limited, to say the least. Experiments have shown that our short-term memory can hold seven separate items, plus or minus two. Now consider that according to Forbes, in 2020 we will be creating 1.7 megabytes of new information every second, for every human being on the planet.

 Artificial intelligence is the kind of tool that will allow us to not only manage that kind of volume of information, but also to find patterns that would have been impossible for a human to see. That means that we are going to see fundamental societal shifts. It’s going to change how we do our jobs, how we move about and we grow our crops. Eventually, we might even see a society where most people don’t work, for better or for worse.

Jobs that are at immediate risk of being eliminated by automation

It’s important to keep in mind that the outcome will depend on the decisions we take as a society, rather than what tools we develop. In other words, don’t hate the robot, hate the operators.

Looking at what is being done in the field of artificial intelligence now, can give us an idea of what our future might be like.

The Good

One of the major concerns that we have as we approach the third decade of the new millennium is how we are going to feed a population that is predicted to reach 8 billion people in 2025. Artificial intelligence has the kind of potential that could have a major impact on the productivity of both aquaculture and agriculture. 

xpertSea is an example of this: the Quebec based company helps aquaculture farms with solutions that “empowers hatcheries, farms and research centers to track and manage their aquatic populations with greater speed, accuracy and insight than ever before”. Their machine learning algorithms uses computer vision to automate animal data collection. The demo they gave at the Intel AI DevCamp back in August 2018 showed how their solution can count shrimps in a container. While this might seem strange, what it means is that farmers can keep better track of their stocks. 

Speaking of Intel, the microchip manufacturer has intensified its efforts in the field of artificial intelligence, having recently released their AI and IoT framework called OpenVino. The framework is being used to help identify plant disease, detect pest infestations and automate farm equipment. A farm in 2050 is bound to be something dramatically different than what it is today. 

The Bad

Like any other technology, AI is something that can be used for nefarious purposes. Georges Soros recently issued a warning about China’s use of AI : while it is debated whether or not it’s true, a number of articles have been published about an AI based social credit system enhanced by bio-metric surveillance, something that feels straight out of an episode of Black Mirror. Even if this isn’t true, it is still a possible application of artificial intelligence that could go really, really wrong. 

AI enhanced drones are also a concern, which is why a number of Google employees resigned in protest when the internet giant took a Pentagon contract to build them. Eventually, Google chose not to renew the contract, but it’s a good bet that a smaller company will eagerly pick up where Google left off.

The Ugly

Most, if not all, projects in artificial intelligence start out with good intentions. This is the case of Lyrebird, a Montreal based startup that built a solution to give back a voice to those who lost theirs. Imagine if Stephen Hawking’s had been able to use his actual voice instead of that robotic synthesizer! With one minute of audio of your voice, this technology is capable of recreating anyone’s voice. 

On the surface (at face value, for all intents and purposes), this pursuit is entirely noble. The problem comes when you start looking at how this could be used in conjunction with deep fakes to create false footage of leaders and celebrities, or be used as a deflection. The very existence of this technology also allows dishonest leaders to claim that something they legitimately said was actually fake. 

The company is aware of the potential for misuse of their creation, as they address the issue on the ethics section of their website. 

But there’s hope

A growing number of scientists are not just aware but concerned about the potential misuse of AI. Google has even started an AI Ethics group and established a set of objectives be followed by its employees when it comes to developing artificial intelligence solutions.

Another citizen-based initiative led to the Montreal Declaration for Responsible AI, a set of principles that is meant to "Develop an ethical framework for the development and deployment of AI, Guide the digital transition so everyone benefits from this technological revolution, and Open a national and international forum for discussion to collectively achieve equitable, inclusive, and ecologically sustainable AI development." If you want your to be voice heard, make sure to sign the declaration!

 Conclusion

Whether you like it or not, artificial intelligence is coming, and it will impact every aspects of our lives. Businesses that don’t embrace AI will be left behind and made obsolete by their competitors. Jobs will change dramatically, as we’ll be shifting labour-based work to decision and idea-based roles. Experts talk about cities where the concept of owning a car is the concept of the past, with self-driving cars acting as autonomous taxis.

While it may seem overwhelming, being involved and informed is the only way you can make sure that everyone benefits from the revolution this technology will bring to our society.

References

1. https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2015/09/30/big-data-20-mind-boggling-facts-everyone-must-read/#3b45cce917b1
2. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/sep/19/world-without-work-utopia-hell-human-labour-obsolete
3. https://www.cbinsights.com/research/jobs-automation-artificial-intelligence-risk/
4. https://www.xpertsea.com/
5. https://www.intel.ca/content/www/ca/en/big-data/article/agriculture-harvests-big-data.html
6. https://devmesh.intel.com/projects/agriculture-4-0
7. https://nationalpost.com/news/world/george-soros-issues-dire-warning-over-chinas-use-of-artificial-intelligence
8. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5728979/About-dozen-Google-employees-quit-protest-companys-deal-Pentagon-outfit-drones-AI.html
9. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-06-01/google-won-t-renew-pentagon-ai-drone-deal-after-staff-backlash
10. https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/11/16/chinas-orwellian-social-credit-score-isnt-real/
11. http://www.digitaljournal.com/tech-and-science/technology/op-ed-chinese-social-credit-or-how-ai-can-rule-your-life-right-now/article/532386
12. https://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/deepfake
13. https://lyrebird.ai/ethics
14. https://www.declarationmontreal-iaresponsable.com/
15. https://www.montrealdeclaration-responsibleai.com/the-declaration