People in the present-day society have so far developed different attitudes toward what constitutes artificial intelligence (AI). In particular, some firmly believe that this form of technology development has far-reaching adverse effects on social, as well as cultural aspects of human life. On the same note, others have welcomed AI, arguing that it has and continues to play a central role in improving society. AI involves the creation of intelligent machines, meaning it has since become one of the essential parts of computer science and the technology industry. In essence, the two core elements of AI research include machine learning and knowledge engineering. In this way, AI revolves around machine perception and computer vision, which revolve around the use of sensory and visual inputs with the sole purpose of deducing the various aspects of the environment or world.
AI researchers remain tasked with the responsibility of programming computers in a way that they possess a broad range of specific traits, including planning, knowledge, perception, learning, reasoning, manipulating and moving objects, and problem-solving. For instance, robotics, which serves as one of the key AI fields, produces intelligent robots to handle a variety of tasks, such as mapping, localization, and navigation. However, as governments, as well as corporates, investing in the implementation, automation of tasks, and linking sensory experiences to technical actions, the processes carry with them both risks and opportunities; given AI has social and cultural implications (Cominelli, Mazzei, & De Rossi, 2018). AI creates not only a technical shift but also brings about a sociocultural shift. In essence, technology has specific values since its development revolves around a given agenda, which means AI researchers should place great emphasis on its social and cultural impacts.
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Social Impacts
Recent studies have revealed that AI typically generates a great deal of fear and fascination in society; given people react in different ways when presented with new technological developments (Cominelli, Mazzei, & De Rossi, 2018). In particular, many individuals have shown appreciation for the various benefits of AI, especially in businesses. For example, customers can now gain quick access to information on their favorite brands from smartphones. Besides these positives, AI has and will continue to transform society significantly. In particular, radical changes which characterize AI technology are not only scary but also generate a variety of social concerns. People have difficulty fathoming the future of their society and overall well-being when it comes to work and job, dangers associated with AI, ethical issues of what constitutes right and wrong, social connections, consciousness, and people’s emotions or feelings.
Relationships . Family members, couples, and groups in society continue to lose the very art of conversation since they pay closer attention to different disconnected online relationships from their phones ( Broekens, Heerink, & Rosendal, 2009 ). People overindulge in social media platforms, including Facebook, as they silently communicate by friends in distant places, overlooking the critical role played by face-to-face conversations in building and maintaining strong connections. Although social media help people a great deal when it comes to connecting with old friends and accessing up to date news, it can cause loneliness, in addition to undermining social graces. According to Gartner’s prediction, people will prioritize conversing with digital assistants as opposed to their spouse by 2020 ( Bayrak, 2015; Dehaene, Lau, & Kouider, 2017 ). In other words, there is a risk of merging humanity with machines. The whole process of augmenting human intelligence with different aspects of artificial intelligence plays a pivotal role in convincing individuals that their pre-conceived biases are factually correct, while at the same time, destroying the art of conversing with one another at the individual level.
Jobs . The potential impact automation on jobs remains the foremost AI-related concern in society. People fear that AI and robotics can replace them at workplaces. According to Dehaene, Lau, and Kouider (2017) , this is one of the most valid concerns since jobs serve not only as their source of income but also mean more than just going to work. In any given society, a job plays a central role in defining reputation, socioeconomic status (SES), sense of worth, as well as a critical source of meaning (Bayrak, 2015). In this respect, the impact associated with losing one’s job remains material and emotional, meaning it can lead to depression and poverty.
Besides the widely held belief that AI will ultimately replace human capital, modern technology remains inextricably linked to virtual workstations in which white-collar employees will find the best possible opportunity to achieve the work-private life balance by working at home (Min Woo & Postolache, 2008). As a result, many unions have objected AI and associated work-related technological developments, arguing that this will play a pivotal role in undermining the many social rights, which individual employees have fought for centuries. In essence, white-collar workers who operate from their homes will be less unionized. Work remains of the indispensable parts of life and human identity, meaning AI should not replace it.
Systematic bias . AI has helped in the production of well-designed systems, which play a fundamental role in removing bias, while at the same time, promoting diversity in the already globalized world. For instance, resume screening tools have and continue to aid firms when it comes to the removal of names and prevention of unconscious bias ( Dehaene, Lau, & Kouider, 2017 ). However, current data pools directly associated with AI remain characterized by a biased influence. This systematic bias has since been attributed to the male-dominated technology industry. Recent research has established that the use of biased data to undertake the whole process of machine learning AI typically produces biased AI (Challen et al., 2018). Although this bias can be unconscious, it often results from societal norms, which researchers of form; given a variety of preconceived notions, especially those with historical roots. A typical case in point involves virtual assistants, which usually use female voices by default. Sensibly speaking, this plays a central role in furthering gender-biased stereotypes, which portray being an assistant as a female thing.
Cultural Impacts
Critics of AI have argued that the way through people view themselves are more likely to change; given these technological developments represent a superior intelligence. In essence, AI will play a leading role in radically changing human self-understanding (Shabbir & Anwer, 2015). In this way, AI will transform different aspects of ethics in society, including workplaces and relationships. Computers can be designed in a way that they utilize all resources to accomplish given tasks, meaning a computer can perform better than humans. Given this high-level performance, an AI program is more likely to receive a Nobel Prize, an act which will undermine human dignity, identify, and associated cultural aspects.
In the past, the main attribute that individual employers looked for when it comes to hiring an employee involved a person’s physical strength. Over time, technological developments have introduced the machine, which, in turn, has drastically changed people’s reliance on their physical strengths. In other words, people in present-day society now depend on their mental abilities, experiences, or skills to secure jobs (Shabbir & Anwer, 2015). However, the introduction of AI will more likely change this culture since it can substitute human knowledge. Concisely, AI has so far demonstrated that it has the much-needed capacity to challenge the over-intellectual culture by replacing it with another characterized by a great deal of creativity, spontaneity, as well as emotionality.
AI has and continues to play a central role in creating a new dimension of culture. In particular, there is a group of individuals who firmly believe that AI serves as an exciting prospect tasked with the responsibility of developing futuristic technology, which will bring freedom from suffering. In essence, this group operates as optimists, who attribute solutions to the world’s problems to AI. On the other hand, the second group view AI as a threat to human existence, orderliness, and peaceful coexistence among society members. According to this group, robotics will deny people employment opportunities, create the undesired individualistic culture, and promote social alienation and loneliness. By creating this new cultural divide, AI undermines humanity and morality in different social settings. For example, the use of AI to develop weapons of mass destruction (WMD), such as killer robots has remained questionable, as this practice violates universal ethics and maxims in most cultures, including laws that govern murder (Sparrow, 2007). Accordingly, AI raises a broad range of cultural questions since it restructures cultures, while at the same time, catalyzing the emergence of new cultural divides.
Conclusion
Conclusively, the various social and cultural impacts of AI fall into three primary categories; negative, positive, and neutral. In essence, the extent, as well as directions of each of these impacts, tend to depend on a variety of factors, including individual perception, social norms, and encounters with AI technologies. In particular, the leading social effects of AI systematic bias, as seen in the intended use of female voice in virtual assistants, restructuring jobs, and redefining social connections or relationships. At the same time, AI affects culture in different ways; creating new culture divides, raising moral questions, especially when it comes to the development of WMD, and replacing the over-intellectual culture with another characterized by a great deal of creativity, spontaneity, as well as emotionality. Ultimately, there is a need for responsible stakeholders to identify and consider different aspects of society and culture when the AI design.
References
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