Artificial Intelligence - the potential threat is wildly underestimated

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As artificial intelligence (AI) is now being rolled out across multiple platforms and usages, the warning from key people in the industry should take on a stronger emphasis.  In May 2023, hundreds of industry leaders from Open AI, GoogleDeepMind, Anthropic and other key technology companies issued a stark warning on the risks of AI and the need for a pause in AI deployment, new laws and Government regulatory oversight. 

AI applications at present already cover a range of industries and functions including:

• smart assistants
• automated self driving vehicles
• virtual travel assistants
• marketing chatbots
• manufacturing robots
• healthcare management
• automated financial investing

The rollout has continued apace despite the warning from 2023.

The potential threat of artificial intelligence, machine learning and self awareness in previous years has largely been portrayed in the realm of science fiction books and notably in films such as The Terminator (1984) by James Cameron and the various versions that followed in that film franchise. In the 1970s, another film that addressed the issue was Colossus: The Forbin Project which concluded with dire consequences for most of the human race. Another sci fi film, Demon Seed (1977) actually includes the use of fake imagery using AI to fool human beings and the eventual transcending of computer intelligence into human form. The use of robots that eventually transform into self aware life is covered in a variety of forms from the foundational story of the television series  Battlestar Galactica through to feature film, Bladerunner (1982) by Ridley Scott which was based on Philip K Dick's novel When Androids Dream of Sheep. A theme throughout is the underestimation by human beings of the impact and potential risk in relation to what they have created.

AI is a powerful tool but it is one where the human control element can be reduced to almost tokenistic. The risks are very real of -

• misuse of AI by criminal groups (which already occurs in part)
• using AI as a weapon by state actors for the furtherance of strategic or tactical gain
• machine learning growing exponentially such that the programmers and code writers no longer are able to understand what is being produced 
• machine to machine learning whereby the links between software produces inherent errors or unforseen negative effects
• high speed decision making by AI which are difficult for humans to prevent or rectify.

The images below are AI generated by the publisher of this blog and serve as simple examples of the most basic form of AI:

Shutterstock - AI generated

The first example, is a Major-General in the British Army circa early 20th century being a historical photograph. The second example is printed below and serves as a complete contrast, being a young woman in evening dress with a shawl. There are technical errors contained in these images however much more sophisticated versions are possible from more complex AI systems. It is easy to see how deep image fakes of known public figures can be produced with minimal effort.

Shutterstock - AI generated