From the moment artificial intelligence (AI) took centre stage in the tech world, there have been debates over its possible benefits and downsides. A section of people believe that AI would make lives easier and help us with our day-to-day work, on the other hand there is no dearth of those who are skeptical and who argue that it might eventually learn to manipulate humans, take away human jobs, and even be the reason of our extinction.

While speaking to British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on AI’s possible negative side, during the first global AI Safety Summit in November 2023, tech billionaire and founder of SpaceX and Tesla, Elon Reeve Musk said, “We are seeing the most destructive force in history here. We will have something that is smarter than the smartest human. There will come a point where no job is needed – you can have a job if you want one for personal satisfaction, but AI will be able to do everything.”

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Contrary to the opinion he expressed above, Elon Musk has gone ahead to secure the USFDA approval for clinical trials in humans for an implantable Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) developed by his company Neuralink. The company is developing a surgically AI enabled implantable chip containing several electrodes that essentially allows the brain to convey intent of movement to a device connected via Bluetooth (e.g. a smartphone, laptop or a computer enabled machine) and then the device decodes the neural data and converts intent to action. Some in the science community warn that such a device could eventually lead to human beings’ self-destruction before the ‘AI apocalypse’ even comes along.

Present Form of Artificial Intelligence or AI Around Us:

Before we dwell deeper into possible positive or negative effects of AI, it is crucial to know what exactly is AI or artificial intelligence. In simple terms, AI is the ability of computerised machines to do what typically only humans can. Artificial Intelligence is already a part of day-to-day lives of many people. Digital assistants in homes and offices, such as Amazon’s Alexa or Apple’s Siri, are just two examples of AI in every-day life.

There are plenty more digital assistants that are helping people to perform tasks such as keeping a check on their health; managing daily schedules; carrying out web searches; sending commands to other apps; translating content into various languages and now, the AI chat-box ChatGPT can actually create conversational dialogues like a human. Other wide-ranging examples of AI usage include self-driving cars; robots used in manufacturing for industry; virtual assistants for health check-ups or travel bookings; chat-bots used in marketing or social media monitoring; navigation systems (GPS) and mapping for improved travel; smart devices’ text-edit functions such as autocorrect; e-payments through digital platforms; facial recognition technology used by governments and corporate; and even the search and recommendation algorithms used by OTT and digital streaming platforms.

The Positive Potential of AI:

The exhaustive but still limited list of usage of Artificial Intelligence already all around us, is an indication of its huge impact in the present as well as in future. AI has made it possible for machines to source huge amounts of digital data, crunch it and then convert it into practical action, independent of human interference.

This ability of computers has already led to significant breakthroughs in the field of medicine, genetics, bio-technology and almost all scientific research including space-tech. For example, AI-based microchip brain-implants are helping people with disabilities to regain control over their bodies. A man in the Netherlands, who suffered from paralysis, was able to walk and even climb stairs after one such device implant. An international team of neuroscientists designed that AI driven implant in order to re-connect the brain, the spinal cord and the muscles of that patient who had suffered a spinal injury. Another interesting recent medical-breakthrough has been the use of AI to potentially predict an individual’s risk of Alzheimer’s disease as well as develop effective and personalized treatments for the same.

How AI helps is at various stages, such as with something as mundane as being able to study unlimited number of MRIs of patients simultaneously, which no one human doctor can do.

Therefore, it is clear that AI has the potential to help improve the lives of millions of people who suffer from various health conditions.

Artificial Intelligence can even play a key role in predicting and preventing crises of our planet’s health. It is well documented that we are at present in the throes of a climate emergency.

Whether it is devastating flash-floods in some part of the globe or an unrelenting heat-wave in some other part; unseasonal rains somewhere or forest-fires elsewhere; AI tech can be of immense use in the planet’s fight for survival.

During the recent forest-fires plaguing several counties in the United States of America, a next-generation fire prediction technology was used by harnessing the power of AI for predicting, preventing and managing forest fires. Americans have the experience of developing and using a platform called Firemap which analyzes data quickly, accurately and effectively in order to prevent or contain wild-fires.

Similarly, the Portuguese have developed a new fire-fighting drone using AI tech, which can douse wild-fires with water before a small blaze can turn into a mega-fire.

Thus, AI has the true potential for better management of natural disasters such as forestfires, floods, landslides and earthquakes. There are undeniable advantages of AI such as reducing the risk of human error in a given task and enhancing accuracy and precision. AI arrives at decisions by analysing all previously gathered information and using a set of pre-programmed algorithms.

The precedent is that this reduces errors to null. Going back to an example from health-care, the use of AI in robotic surgery has proven to reduce the risk of human error while increasing the capabilities of performing complex procedures at the same time.

Then there is the huge advantage of ‘zero risk’ in using AI for performing tasks which are either perilous, or monotonous or humungous for humans. For example, defusing a bomb or researching the depths of the ocean or exploring outer-space.

AI-driven innovations such as appbased aggregators like Ola/Uber or Amazon continue to make life easier for humans. Inventions such as Tesla’s self-driving cars can potentially reduce traffic congestion in bustling cities; improve road safety and even increase accessibility for humans with limited mobility.

In a fast-paced world where time is often money, AI enables faster decision-making. AI- based automation and real-time insights not only make organizational processes faster and safer, they have proven to be particularly valuable in situations which have highstakes and may lead to costly errors or risk lives.

For example in financial trading, AI-powered predictive analytics crunches vast amounts of real-time data to enable informed investment decisions.

Thus, in comparison to human traders algorithms reduce risks and result in improved financial returns. Another advantageous application of AI is in pattern identification due to its ability to analyze unlimited data. This quality is useful in better understanding market trends and improving business outcomes. Law enforcement and vigilance departments routinely utilize this AI tech to identify and check fraudulent activity through pattern identification. Obviously, AI and its practical applications is a fastdeveloping field and it is ever-evolving, but the pace at which AI is revolutionizing all aspects of life begs careful consideration. The positive potential is indeed vast and untapped still, but the sheer power of AI-tech demands ethical guidelines to be developed.

The Negative Potential of AI:

A big disadvantage of AI, especially in sectors such as citizen-database, security agencies, healthcare, education and others is the potential theft and misuse of personal data. AI systems governing many such aspects of society raise ethical and privacy concerns. It is critical to prevent unauthorized access to sensitive information of both citizens and organizations. All digital information is vulnerable to hacking and misuse.

Therefore AI enabled systems will need to handle data securely, with relevant privacy safeguards in place. For militaries across the world, AI enabled weapons technology has changed the battlefield forever. From the current favourites like weaponized drones to the potential killer-robots of the future, AI is driving military planning the world over.

While each country may feel safer in possessing AI-based weapons that minimize the loss of its own soldiers, the world as a whole will be threatened more. The chances of countries going to war increase manifold, under the false-illusion of safety which AI enabled remote war-fare provides. When there is lesser loss of human life at stake, belligerent nations may potentially turn more easily to war in order to settle disputes. So, while war-mongers find AI based weapons technology exciting, peace-lovers remain worried.

Artificial Intelligence involves high costs since it is only as good as the latest hardware and software to stay relevant. So far, AI has also shown to be limited by the data that is pre-fed and thus lacks creativity.

Unlike humans, AI cannot so far, think outside the box. Another disadvantage of AI is that it can make humans lazy. If repetitive tasks, calculations and data analytics are handed over permanently to robots, humans could potentially use less and less of their brains and develop poorer reflexes. Another concern is AI Singularity. This refers to the school of thought amongst cynics that AI cannot be incorporated with the human features of morality and ethics. The fear is that Artificial Intelligence will evolve uncontrollably and potentially either subjugate or wipe-out humanity.

There Are Grey Areas:

There are numerous labour-intensive jobs which humans get paid to do, and which enables them to sustain a livelihood for themselves and their dependents. Examples include jobs like proof-reading and factchecking documents, replying to e-mails, setting itineraries, packaging goods, assembly line production, house-cleaning, public transportation, answering phones and many such. Since AI can perform repetitive tasks faster and better, robots could well replace humans in these jobs.

Even in specialized fields such as art, music, literature and acting, AI is threatening human competitiveness.

A good and recent example is the strike by Hollywood writers and actors, to protest the inadequate compensations being given to them, as they face almost an existential threat due to advanced use of AI in film-production. Further, humans are endowed with a sense of community and team spirit, so a decision can become acceptable if it proves to be right for the greater good.

AI on the other hand, would have no such qualms and could arrive at narrow decisions which may potentially do more harm than good.

Artificial Intelligence is unbiased, unemotional and rational in its outcomes, whereas human intelligence is often informed by emotions.

AI functions on wholesome data, whilst humans rely on wholesome knowledge and life experience. The decisions arrived at by both in any given environment, may or may not differ significantly due to the fundamental difference between an algorithm and a human brain.

So, what happens when an AI decision is at odds with a human decision? Further, with rapid advances in bio-tech, med-tech and chip-tech, the idea of a terminator-style human robot does not look too farfetched in the near future.

Though for now what Elon Musk proposes through his Neuralink device is to treat neurological diseases, such as dementia and motion disorders; But once technology is advanced enough for us to choose how much of the human brain we want to be merged with AI, it will be hard to draw the line on how much is too much.

To understand the future possible dangers of this technology let us consider a few imaginary situations:

1. What if AI overtakes the human brain, which is not possible today, but one day when it gets sufficiently developed, AI could be used as a substitute brain in someone’s body and that human’s body could be in potential danger.

2. A person could be doomed if his/her ‘brain chip’ is hacked because a hacker could extract all the information of the victim and potentially blackmail, control, harass, torture or even kill the victim.

3. What if there is a man or organisation powerful enough to control living beings through the chips in their brain, which are linked to their nerves. The jury is out on whether AI is a boon or curse, but what is unambiguous is that Artificial Intelligence is certainly revolutionary for mankind as a whole, and it has the potential to shape human-history in unimaginable ways.