ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IS BOON or BANE

There has been lot of discussions around the evolution of AI and its impact in the real world. In this article, we try to address the issue if AI is a boon or a bane!

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is among the fastest-developing technologies with a wide range of applications. From playing our favorite music to assisting in complex surgeries, AI has made the lives of humans easier by offering solutions for problems. Such a revolution in technology has been intriguing, and there has been a lot of discussion around the topic- of AI- boon or bane. In this article, we will learn the advantages and disadvantages of AI and what we should expect in the future.

Content – AI, boon or bane?

• What is Artificial Intelligence?
• Applications of Artificial Intelligence
• Advantages of Artificial Intelligence
• Disadvantages of Artificial Intelligence
• Conclusion

What is Artificial Intelligence?

Artificial intelligence is a branch of computer science and refers to a technique that enables machines to mimic human behavior.  AI can improve on past iterations and become smarter and more aware, allowing it to improve its capabilities and knowledge. With AI, machines perform cognitive functions like learning, planning, reasoning, decision-making, and problem-solving. AI is a machine’s simulation of human intelligence, and it could solve major real-world challenges. This is why we are discussing whether AI is a boon or bane!https://b6ab9881c9d38e9a367b74eec07e5e18.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-40/html/container.html

Applications of Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence applications are numerous and ensure benefits like improved services, better customer satisfaction, and behavior forecasts. Some of the crucial applications of artificial intelligence are – 

Smart Assistants

Siri, Google Home, and Amazon Echo are popular smart assistants and good examples of AI applications. These devices use natural language processing (NLP) to interpret the consumer response and respond either verbally or through the execution of a specific action. 

Chatbots

When you enter a web page, you will find interactive chatbots that suggest products/restaurants/ hotels/services based on our queries. Chatbots are computer programs that simulate and process human conversations. It is one of the clearest examples of artificial intelligence, as are Amazon’s Alexa, Apple’s Siri, or Microsoft’s Cortana, which we find integrated into our everyday devices. 

Education 

AI makes it possible to detect and provide the right solutions. For example, if a student is going to drop out, offer them alternatives, search for courses that adapt to the needs of each student, control class attendance, and prevent school dropouts.

Healthcare 

In the healthcare sector, obtaining more accurate and faster diagnoses is essential to apply the appropriate treatment. For example, during the COVID-19 pandemic, AI could give early warnings of the Pandemic, predict localized infections, analyze news, or carry out pre-diagnosis of the virus through apps.

Logistics & Transportation

AI has played a crucial role in the COVID-19 pandemic, with several autonomous aircraft and drones transporting medical supplies and delivering vaccines in remote locations. Besides, AI is useful in avoiding collisions and traffic jams, improving traffic behavior, and optimizing traffic light control. 

Sales

AI applications also offer sales forecasts to choose the best products to recommend to customers. Multinationals like Amazon use AI to identify whether a product or a launch would succeed, even before selling it. AI helps optimize the purchase and distribution processes and avoids losses or breakages.

Autonomous Vehicles 

Artificial Intelligence is the most important and sophisticated component of autonomous vehicles. These vehicles have sensors, cameras, and smart communications systems that generate data. This data, in combination with AI, can help to mimic human behavior and enable vehicles to perform efficiently.

Electronic Commerce 

Artificial intelligence is used in e-commerce to –

• Recommend related products to the customer
• Remind them of the past purchase
• Predict whether or not a product will be successful
• Optimize inventory and avoid out-of-stock, predict revenues

Advantages of Artificial Intelligence

• Artificial Intelligence reduces human error.
• Contributes to risky tasks that it is not possible for humans to perform, such as exploring the depths of the sea, space expeditions, etc.
• Compared to human labor, AI can perform tasks at long stretches with constant human intervention. 
• Companies can rely on AI to safeguard consumer data

Disadvantages of Artificial Intelligence

• Higher costs are involved because of machine complexity
• Since AI automates a lot of tasks, it has made humans addicted to smart devices and become lazy 
• AI can easily perform repetitive and heavy tasks and has already replaced human labor. e.g. Process automation in industries 
• As of now, AI can not replicate human emotions and connection, an essential attribute to the team working
• AI and machines are programmed to perform functions, so it may take some time for them to innovate at performing tasks

Conclusion

Coming to the question of whether AI is a boon or bane, the answer is tricky. The fear of omnipotent machines acting like humans isn’t far-fetched. Elon Musk has repeatedly warned that AI will soon become just as smart as humans, and that will be a very scary situation because humanity’s existence will be at stake.

Ethics in AI has always been a point of discussion, and given how successful AI has been in transforming human lives; we can’t think of our world without its active role. In the future, we will witness more revolutionized AI, with autonomous driving and flying in our daily lives, AI replacing many human-driven tasks, etc. If humans and AI have aligned interests, both will go hand in hand; if they don’t, it gets conflicting.

We need to discuss at what rate we can allow the technological revolution to continue. The future will be very different for the next generation, and there is a need to have more stringent policies to use AI to benefit humans and make groundbreaking discoveries.