The War of Artificial Intelligence: Are We Doomed to Surrender to Our Creations?

The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) has sparked both awe and fear in the hearts of many. AI has been rapidly evolving over the past few decades. And with the advent of Big Data and the Internet of Things (IoT), AI has become more powerful and sophisticated than ever.

From autonomous vehicles to chatbots, AI is changing the way we live and work and has the potential to improve many aspects of our lives.  But as we continue to develop more sophisticated AI systems, we must ask ourselves the following questions; is it worth the risk? Is humanity headed for a war against its own creations?

For starters, films like “The Terminator” and “The Matrix” have depicted AI systems taking over the world and enslaving humanity. While these may seem like far-fetched scenarios, the reality is that AI is already being used to make life-and-death decisions.

Proponents of AI argue that it will ultimately benefit humanity by solving some of our biggest problems, such as climate change and disease. But as AI becomes more powerful, some experts believe it will become harder to control, posing a threat to humans.

For example, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has warned that AI could someday outsmart and endanger humans, calling artificial intelligence the biggest threat to civilization. In a comment, Elon Musk wrote, “The pace of progress in artificial intelligence (I’m not referring to narrow AI) is incredibly fast. Unless you have direct exposure to groups like Deepmind, you have no idea how fast—it is growing at a pace close to exponential. The risk of something seriously dangerous happening is in the five-year timeframe. 10 years at most.”

Physicist Stephen Hawking also weighed in on the matter, stating, “The success of creating effective Artificial Intelligence could be the biggest event in the history of our civilization. Or the worst. So, we cannot know if we will be infinitely helped by AI, ignored by it and side-lined, or conceivably destroyed by it.”

While AI has the potential to revolutionize many aspects of society, there is also a growing concern that the development of AI could lead to a war of intelligence. This article will explore the potential for such a war and its societal implications.

What is Artificial Intelligence?

Artificial intelligence is an umbrella term used to describe a range of technologies that enable machines to perform tasks that would typically require human intelligence. These tasks include natural language processing, speech recognition, image and video analysis, decision-making, and problem-solving.

AI can be classified into two main categories; narrow or weak AI and general or strong AI. Narrow AI is designed to perform a specific task, such as playing chess or driving a car. General AI, on the other hand, is designed to perform any intellectual task that a human can do. Currently, all artificial intelligence applications use narrow AI.

There are many different AI platforms and systems available today. Some of the most popular platforms include Google AI, Open AI, Microsoft AI, Amazon AI, Apple AI, and IBM AI. These platforms have been used to develop various applications, including chatbots, virtual assistants, and autonomous vehicles. Let’s take a deeper look at them.

1.    Google AI

Google AI is a collection of AI technologies developed by Google. These technologies are used in various applications, including search, image recognition, and language translation. Some of the most notable Google AI technologies include;

• Bard: This is the latest experimental AI-powered chatbot that can respond to queries and requests in a conversational manner.
• LaMDA: It is a language model developed by Google, which is designed to understand better and respond to natural language queries and conversations.
• Google Auto ML vision: This is a machine learning model builder for image recognition.
• Google Assistant: It is a voice assistant AI for Android devices,
• TensorFlow: An open-source framework for machine learning and deep learning, including AI accelerators.
• DeepMind: A division tasked with developing deep learning and artificial general intelligence technology.

2.    Microsoft AI

Microsoft AI is a collection of artificial intelligence technologies developed by Microsoft. These technologies are used in various applications, including search, image recognition, and language translation. Microsoft AIs includes;

• Bing chatbot: Is a chatbot developed by Microsoft and is designed to engage in natural language conversations with users and can answer questions, provide recommendations, and perform other tasks. The chatbot is based on Microsoft’s Azure Cognitive Services and uses machine learning algorithms to improve its performance over time.
• Azure AI: It is an AI technology developed by Microsoft and is designed to enable developers to build AI applications quickly and easily. The technology includes a range of pre-built AI models and tools, including speech and language recognition, image and video analysis, and decision-making algorithms.

3.    Amazon AI

Amazon AI is a collection of AI technologies developed by Amazon. These technologies are used in various applications, including e-commerce, search, and virtual assistants. They include;

• Alexa: A virtual assistant designed to perform various tasks, including playing music, answering questions, and controlling smart home devices. Alexa is powered by Amazon’s AI technology, which includes natural language processing and machine learning algorithms.
• Polly: It enables developers to add natural-sounding speech capabilities into applications. You can send a text to Polly through a software development kit or the AWS Management Console, and Polly synthesizes it into human-like speech.

4.    Open AI

OpenAI is a research organization focused on developing safe and beneficial AI. Some of their products include;

• Chat GPT: This is an AI-powered chatbot based on OpenAI’s GPT-3.5 implementation that was released in November 2022 and took the world by storm. It allows users to ask questions using conversational or natural language.
• DELL-E: it’s a deep learning model developed to generate digital images from natural language descriptions called “prompts.” It uses a version of GPT-3 modified to generate images.

5.    Apple AI

Apple AI is an artificial intelligence system developed by Apple inc. One of its applications is Siri, a virtual assistant for iOS, macOS, tvOS, and watchOS devices that uses voice recognition and is powered by artificial intelligence (AI). Siri uses natural language processing and machine learning techniques to understand and respond to spoken or typed commands and questions from users.

6.    IBM AI

IBM AI is a collection of AI technologies developed by IBM. These technologies are used in various applications, such as natural language processing, image and video analysis, and decision-making algorithms.

• Watson AI for Business: The AI for business is developed to help organizations predict future outcomes, automate complex processes and optimize employees’ time.
• IBM’s Watson supercomputer: It is an AI-powered question-answering supercomputer that performs cognitive computing and data analysis. It has a processing rate of 80 teraflops and performs deep-level input analysis to present accurate answers to human-generated questions.

7.    Scalenut AI lifetime deal

Scalenut AI is an AI technology that offers a lifetime deal for users. The technology includes a range of AI models and tools, including natural language processing, image and video analysis, and decision-making algorithms. It offers users a lifetime deal, allowing them to access the technology for a one-time fee rather than a monthly subscription.

8.    Christmas anime AI art

Christmas anime AI art is an AI technology designed to enable machines generate high-quality anime-style artwork that is themed around Christmas. The technology uses machine learning algorithms to learn from existing Christmas-themed anime artwork and generate new artwork based on that learning.

Is Artificial Intelligence Dangerous?

While AI has the potential to revolutionize many aspects of society, there is also a growing concern that the growth of AI could lead to a war of intelligence. This war would involve the development of increasingly powerful AI technologies, which could lead to a situation where machines are more intelligent than humans.

The implications of such a war are far-reaching and could include the loss of jobs, economic disruption, and even the potential for machines to take control of society. In addition, there are concerns about the ethical implications of developing AI technologies that are more intelligent than humans.

Below we discuss the risks associated with AI

1.    Invasion of Privacy

AI has and will adversely affect privacy because it is now possible to find and analyze a person online and even go through their daily life. With cameras equipped with facial recognition installed almost everywhere, there is nowhere to hide because these facial algorithms know everyone.

For instance, the Chinese government uses facial recognition in its social credit system to monitor citizens and give them personal scores. The score is based on how each person behaves. Do they smoke in nonsmoking areas, have they defaulted on loans, or have they played too many video games? The punishment for a low score includes slow internet and a travel ban.

While some might claim this will improve Chinese morals and behaviors, it amounts to a breach of the right to privacy.

2.    Autonomous Weapons

Autonomous weapons are weapons controlled by AI systems instead of humans. Many developed countries have equipped their militaries with AI-controlled weapon systems such as drones and robots. For example, military drones controlled by AI have been used to carry out targeted assassinations in countries like Yemen and Pakistan.

While proponents argue that these drones save lives by eliminating terrorist threats, critics argue that the use of AI in warfare raises serious ethical questions. Who decides which targets to strike? How can we ensure that innocent civilians are not caught in the crossfire? What if these killer robots go rogue? How do we stop them?

3.    AI Biasness

Most people assume that since AI is a computer system, then it cannot be biased. However, this is untrue. AI systems are trained on historical data and by inherently biased people. So, what do you expect? If the data is untrue or biased, the AI system will also be biased. There are two types of bias in AI.

• Representation bias – It occurs when the data used to train an AI model does not accurately represent the real-world population it is intended to serve. This can happen when certain groups or individuals are underrepresented or overrepresented in the training data.

For example, if a healthcare AI model is trained on data that primarily includes patients from a particular demographic group, such as older white men, it may not generalize well to other demographic groups, leading to inaccurate predictions or recommendations.

• Measurement bias – It occurs when the data used to train an AI model is systematically inaccurate or incomplete, leading to biased predictions or decisions. This can happen when certain data types are more easily measured or recorded than others or when measurement errors are introduced into the data.

For example, police departments across the United States use predictive policing algorithms to identify high-risk areas and individuals. These algorithms are trained on historical crime data, which means they may perpetuate biases against certain communities. The result is that people in these communities are more likely to be arrested and prosecuted, even if they are innocent.

4.    Artificial Intelligence Crime and Terrorism

Can you imagine what Artificial Intelligence systems can do when in the hands of a terrorist or criminal? Many terrorist groups are already using drones to attack other countries. For instance, ISIS carried out a successful drone attack in 2016 that left 2 people dead in Iraq. If thousands of drones had been launched, we could have had mass casualties.

Terrorists could also use autonomous cars to deliver and explode bombs. They can also create autonomous guns and killer robots to do massive destruction. Autonomous guns are already in use at the North and South Korean border.

While developed nations may develop their own system to combat such events, developing countries will become vulnerable. What will happen to third-world countries when terrorists get access to such weapons?

5.    Job Automation

As artificial intelligence becomes more advanced, it will take over most human jobs. In fact, according to a report by Mckinsey Global Institute, 800 million jobs will be lost due to automation by 2030. Ai proponents argue that AI will take only repetitive and complex jobs leaving humans to do creative work. So, what will happen to the people who will lose their jobs?

The fact is AI systems can outperform humans because they are more accurate, efficient, and cheaper. And as they continue to improve, more people will lose jobs. The results for this will be social inequality and economic disaster.

Another problem is that there is a high chance that the rich will continue to get richer while the poor will become poorer. This is because, although AI will create jobs, these people will neither have the education nor experience to take up jobs. Unfortunately, Black and Latino workers will be the most affected.

For example, Open AI chat GPT is already disrupting advertising, technical writing, content creation, and journalism. Examples of other jobs that will be replaced by AI include;

• Manufacturing – robots have been used in the manufacturing industry for decades. For example, General Motors has used robots in assembling since 1962. But don’t get confused. Robots and AI are not quite the same. While robots are designed to do certain tasks in a set way over and over again, AI systems emulate the human mind that learns and self-improves. Combining robots and AI will leave most factory workers out of work.
• Market research analysts – AI is great at analyzing data and using it to predict outcomes, which is exactly what market research analysts do.
• Graphics designing – DALL- E AI is already able to generate images in seconds faster than any human can.
• Customer service agents – This is not new. You must have had an encounter where you called or chatted with a company’s customer service, and a robot responded instead of a real human.

Besides, there are high chances that AI will replace software developers, coders, courier services, taxi drivers, data scientists, and soldiers.

6.    Misalignment Between Human Goals and Machines

While we value AI machines for their accuracy, speed, and efficiency, if we aren’t clear about the goals we set for machines, they will be dangerous because they aren’t armed with the same goals as humans. For instance, giving a command to a machine to get you to work as fast as possible without indicating that it must follow road safety rules can endanger your life. The machine may get you to work fast enough but leave behind a trail of accidents.

7.    Cyber Crimes

Artificial intelligence is becoming very good at cracking encryption and hacking security systems. And with the ability to revolve around machine learning algorithms, malware can become more rampant over time.

Although cyber security agencies also use AI to counter cybercrimes, AI in the dark web is a global threat.

Conclusion

The rise of artificial intelligence presents both great promise and great peril. But despite the concerns above, many AI researchers and developers argue that the benefits of AI outweigh the potential risks. They point to the many applications of AI that are already benefiting society, such as improved medical diagnoses, more efficient transportation systems, and more personalized services.

However, If we do not take action to regulate its development and use, we may find ourselves at war with artificial intelligence. It is up to the human race to ensure that AI is used ethically and for the benefit of all humanity. Our fate may depend on it.