The PBS Frontline documentary “In the Age of AI,” exposes the effects of artificial intelligence on our society as a whole and on each of us personally. Quite honestly, the information presented in this video was both disturbing and frightening.
As a society, most people embraced technology as a positive factor in our lives and our future. We essentially believed that it would always improve our lives or make things better overall. Technology had a “persona” of being an entity of good will. Unfortunately, this is not the case. As the video points out, “We gave technology a place in our lives it had not earned.” This place has invaded and manipulated our lives in a way we never could have imagined through the onset of artificial Intelligence.
Artificial intelligence is used in different ways for different purposes. Artificial intelligence (AI) is the simulation of human intelligence processes by machines, especially computer systems. In general, AI systems work by ingesting large amounts of labeled training data, analyzing the data for correlations and patterns, and using these patterns to make predictions about future states. The video highlighted the use of AI in performing jobs and also as a way of gathering information about our lives. In each case, the information presented did not paint a rosy picture of using technology to benefit everyday individuals, like you and me.
The impact of AI in the workforce, in factories, fast food restaurants, stores, offices, human resources, finance, law firms, and even on Wall Street has resulted in the loss of jobs and how we as a society make money and support ourselves and our families. In many industries, robots have taken the place of factory workers who once made a decent income at these jobs and were able to provide their families with a quality middle class lifestyle. According to the video, the use of AI in these jobs has caused inequality among workers as well as a lack of economic stability. People at the top are raking in the money, while those under them are struggling to support themselves and their families. The capital that is earned has become far more important than the labor that goes into the job. The wealthy are becoming wealthier and the poor are becoming poorer. This impact has the potential to tear a society apart. The video emphasized that the loss of jobs is not due mainly to offshoring, but rather to automation--”the silent job killer.”
Artificial Intelligence has also invaded our privacy and unknowingly manipulated our lives. I thought it was very interesting that in the beginning of their venture, the founders of Google were focused on running an ethical business. That changed, however, when the need to increase revenue arose. To do that, Google, as well as other corporations, like Facebook and AT&T, began exploiting individuals by collecting data on them and saw the results when billions of dollars came rolling in. Their power over an unwitting public only escalated. This “surveillance capitalism” tracks everything we say, do, buy, etc. so that the technology companies can put more money in their pockets. When Google went public in 2004, it was discovered that their revenue had increased 3590% between 2000 and 2004, all as a result of the data they had collected on us.
The fact that we as private citizens and consumers have become the target of greedy tech companies is invasive and very scary. If we use technology, as most people do, we open up the intimate details of our lives to people we don’t know nor ever will know. It seems as though it is a violation of our basic rights as human beings.
Technology certainly has made our lives easier and more efficient, but it has also harmed us in ways we could not have imagined. This video was an eye-opener and has caused me to reevaluate the information I share.
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