Local Community Advertising
Like it or not, artificial intelligence is here, and it’s bound to have a profound impact on how we live our lives.
Experts say it will lead to rapid change, but will it ultimately make things better or worse?
UBCO psychology professor and theorist Dr. Liane Gabora and postdoctoral research scientist Dr. Abhishek Rakshit both believe we will be better off, but they are not without their worries.
Dr. Rakshit sees good and bad with the onset of AI.
“I think it’s both,” he said. “There are parts which are exciting in this work and parts which are worrisome.”
However things go, Rakshit expects rapid change.
“You will see change happen so rapidly in terms of health care, in terms of technology that you could not imagine five years ago.”
He’s currently designing an AI system for his research.
“It can help us crunch that data quickly,” Rakshit said.
“So it just explodes the scale of how much data we can process and put into the system.”
Photo credit: NowMedia
Dr. Abhishek Rakshit and Dr. Liane Gabora
Dr. Gabora is excited about the onset of artificial intelligence in our lives.
“My gut feeling is to be kind of excited about it,” said Dr. Gabora, “but it’s a complex issue and I think there are dangers as well.”
Like Dr. Rakshit, she envisions rapid change.
“New ways of making movies and new ways of collecting our news and new ways of living and things that we can’t even imagine right now,” said Gabora.
She doesn’t envision AI running out of control as in Hollywood movies, but her fears are over how it might be misused by people.
More Info!
“AI is a tool and like all tools it can be used for bad or it can be used for good,” said Gabora.
Earlier this month, thousands of leaders in the field of artificial intelligence signed a letter asking for a pause in the development of certain AI systems until better safety protocols can be put in place.
“I personally don’t believe that we can really enforce a pause,” said Dr. Gabora.
“I think it’s good though, that the idea of a pause was put forward because it’s caused people to really think deeply about what these possible dangers are and to put guardrails in place.”
Gabora said it’s not just scientists who have to be prepared, but all of us.
Because sorting fact from fiction is going to be more difficult than ever.
“Pretty soon you’re going to be getting phone calls from someone who sounds exactly like your mother saying ‘Im in Nigeria and I need $10,000.”
Bottom line, she is mostly positive about what’s in store.
“I think it creates lots of new opportunities,” said Gabora.
And Dr. Rakshit agrees.
“I think there’s a potential to be better off,” he said. “I am more in the positive camp.”
This article was written without the assistance of artificial intelligence. 🙂
Local Community Advertising
