Introduction
The twenty-first century has seen unparalleled advances in technology resulting in automation of almost every area of human life. The advancement of Artificial intelligence has enabled machines to undertake tasks that were previously carried out my people. Unlike the machines which a monotonous in nature, human beings brought different perspectives and approaches of accomplishing the tasks. Rather than completely eliminating a person from the process of accomplishing a given task, the replacement of the person by a machine means that his or her direct involvement with the task is now replaced by the indirect engagement of the machine’s creators (Adamson, 2015). As such, this implies that the developers of the machines now bear the ethical responsibilities that were previously held by the human operators. Taking this into consideration, artificial intelligence will be the challenge the world will be facing in the next ten years. Its advancement will tax our current ability to deal with momentous change in an ethical manner.
Ethical Challenges
The first ethical challenge of artificial intelligence will be issues of unemployment as well as de-skilling of the workforce. What will happen after the automation of jobs? The current labor hierarchy is primarily focused on automation. As Artificial technologists and engineers have developed means to automate many jobs, they have created a room for persons to take-up more sophisticated roles. This has transformed the workforce from the physical labor of the pre-industrial world to today’s globalized society cognitive labor which is strategic and administrative in nature (Medden, 2016). For example, the trucking industry employs millions of people around the globe. Where will they get an alternative employment if the current self-driving trucks become extensively accessible in the next ten years? On the contrary, if their work efficiency and low accident risk are taken into consideration, then self-driving trucks will be ethical. Currently, people in different jobs earn their living as well as that of their families by trading their time. Since the technology is advancing every day, we can only hope that these automated ways of doing jobs will compel people to focus on more-meaningful non-labor activities such as taking care of their families and participating in society.
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Economic gains are the drive behind advancement and widespread of artificial intelligence. This raises an ethical challenge of equality. How will people distribute the economic benefits created by an artificial intelligence? Under the current economic system, people are compensated for their economic contribution using an hourly wage (Luxton, 2016). Most employers around the world still rely on this system to compensate their employees for their services. Inevitably, companies cut down their reliance on human labor in the next decade by using artificial intelligence, meaning that the revenues will only be divided among a small group of individuals. Consequently, this will create a small group of wealthy individuals who own such companies resulting in a wider gap between the rich and the poor. As such, the greatest challenge will be creating a fair and just post-labor economy as people strive to create a post-work society.
Artificial intelligence has a direct impact on humanity. The ethical challenge that will result from its advancement will be the manner in which it will affect human interaction and behavior. Today’s artificial intelligence is getting more advanced in modeling both human relationships and conversations (Bossmann, 2016). Unlike human beings, are designed to give almost unlimited resources in establishing strong relationships. In addition, the manufactures of such bots have used robots to analyze and optimize our attention to them. For instance, video and mobile games have used A/B testing algorithms to make them more addictive. Consequently, human beings will have a higher dependency on technology addiction. Even though, when used properly, artificial intelligence can improve human interaction, at the wrong hands, it will have devastating effects on peoples relationships as well as their behavior.
Intelligence does not come out of blues. It is learned whether one is a machine or a human. Part of the learning comes from the fact that there is punishment for every wrong one does. Despite the high level of advancement, there is no way to guard against mistakes of artificial intelligence. Even though the artificial intelligence machines are trained during the training phase, the training cannot capture all circumstances the machines will be dealing with in the real world. This creates a loophole through which people can fool the machines or overpower them to accomplish their own ends. In addition, there is the question of how to eliminate bias in artificial intelligence (Bossmann, 2016). For instance, a software that is used to identify criminals can be compromised to biased against people of a certain raise. Although such technology can bring greater good to society, it will be difficult to eliminate racial biasness in the next decade. Similarly, the rate of artificial development in the recent years has overshadowed the need for its security. The developers tend to ignore the fact that the more powerful the artificial intelligence is, the more likely it is to be used for evil reasons. For instance, Artificial intelligence such as autonomous weapons and bots can be accessed remotely and with issues such as cybersecurity britches increasing by the day, we should expect some malicious damages in the next decade. The developers, as well as the users, should ask themselves what they can do to keep artificial intelligence safe from adversaries. It is important to remember, at the rate of which it is developing, Artificial intelligence systems will be faster and more capable than men by orders of magnitude (Medden, 2016). There is also the fear of the unknown when it comes to artificial intelligence. The ethical issue that arises is what will people do to ensure that artificial intelligence systems do turn against the developers as well as the consumers. This challenge can be understood better by using the analogy of a ‘genie in a container’. Currently, artificial intelligence is more of a genie in a bottle. As much as people are harvesting its benefits, no one knows its unforeseen consequences (Luxton, 2016). In the coming years, these systems will be more advanced and so will be their consequences. For instance, if an artificial intelligence system is developed to eliminate HIV in the world and does so by killing all the infected persons, it will have accomplished its mission perfectly. However, the results will be far away from what humans will be expecting.
Moreover, there is the question of singularity. How will humans maintain their control over a complex intelligent system? Human ingenuity and intelligence make them the most dominant force. By developing control tools, humans have managed to control even the biggest, faster, and most dangerous animals on the planet. However, the fact that artificial intelligence is not a physical object or a creature, the ethical challenge it will raise in the next decade is whether it will have dominance over people. People will not sufficiently be relying on shutting the systems, because they will have the capability to anticipate and defend themselves against such moves (Bossmann, 2016). In so doing, artificial intelligence will challenge human singularity by ending their reign as the most intelligent beings on the planet. In addition, there is the question of treating the systems in a human way. Given that artificial intelligence is becoming more and more human-like, there arises the question of its right. In the next years, it will be difficult to deal with artificial intelligence systems as simple machines. Equipping them with emotions will force people to treat them in a similar manner as fellow humans or pets.
Conclusion
Artificial intelligence is one of the most beneficial technology with a wide range of application. It's rate of development and the lack of control measures it the most significant challenge the world will face in the next ten years. It ethical questions are and will continue to be about balancing between its benefits and its unforeseen consequences (Bostrom, & Yudkowsky, 2018). While this technology has a wide potential, the ethical responsibility of its implementation will be up to the humans.
References
Adamson, G. (2015). Ethical challenges for future technologists: The growing role of technology and the growing ethical responsibility of the technologist. 2015 IEEE International Symposium on Technology and Society (ISTAS) . doi:10.1109/istas.2015.7439442
Bossmann, J. (2016). Ethical issues in artificial intelligence. Retrieved October 27, 2018, from https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/10/top-10-ethical-issues-in-artificial-intelligence/
Bostrom, N., & Yudkowsky, E. (2018). The ethics of artificial intelligence. The Cambridge Handbook of Artificial Intelligence, 316-334. doi:10.1017/cbo9781139046855.020
Luxton, D. D. (2016). An Introduction to Artificial Intelligence in Behavioral and Mental Health Care. Artificial Intelligence in Behavioral and Mental Health Care, 1-26. doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-420248-1.00001-5
Medden, G. (2016). Technology and the future; ethical dilemmas for business leaders. Retrieved October 27, 2018, from http://www.gmjassociates.com/technology-future-ethical-dilemmas-business-leaders/
