There are multiple significant issues to be addressed regarding Artificial Intelligence.
Is the term Artificial Intelligence an oxymoron? One normally considers intelligence to be acquired, and (to a certain extent) an inherited attribute of a living entity, not something invented that replaces the cognitive and industrious abilities of mankind.
The impacts vs. the values of AI need to be recognized, evaluated and acknowledged by everybody, including all levels of government, industry, large as well as small businesses, and the public-at-large. The potential impacts and value of AI are having unprecedented effects upon all elements of society. Some good and some not-so-good.
The value of AI appears to best serve the Titans of industry and government.
- Natural energy companies shovel more coal, pump more oil, and extract more gas: more product sold equals an increase to the bottom-line
- Construction companies build more large-scale power plants, data centers, and iClouds: facilitates skilled employment until a point of saturation.
- Digital firms supporting the application of AI create increased revenues from software sales and services, AI applications, and storage solutions
- Information intensive business (e.g., insurance, banking, contracting, education, and customer services) will benefit from AI by replacing the cost of workers performing routine, standardized functions. Significant bottom-line improvements may be realized.
The flip-side of the value of AI is the impacts upon Society, Natural Resources, Conservation, and the Environment. It is important that one consider the value of AI to the whole of Society. – This is the point at which one should be asking themselves: to what extend should one embrace AI and/or moderate its potential (or exponential) impact on one’s life? – It is now obvious that AI can accomplish many technical objectives; but should one embrace it unconditionally? – Not just “No”, but “Hell No”!!!
Electricity demands necessitate the increased use of natural resources (and to some extent renewables such as wind and solar). Electricity generation is highly dependent on coal, oil and natural gas. Use of these carbon-based fuels contributes to higher levels of carbon monoxide/dioxide. In turn, these pollutants contribute to environmental issues and to climate warming.
AI’s electricity consumption is beginning to stress the capacity of the country’s power plants. For example: in Maryland, many home owner’s electric bills are increasing by up to 25 percent. It not so much an increase in homeowner consumption or population growth as it is the need for the capacity to support AI solutions. – Like it or not, using it or not (now or in the future), it seems everyone is funding AI’s rapid growth.
Another example: in northern Virginia (a D.C. suburban area) there has been an unanticipated growth of humongous data management and processing centers. The size and locations have resulted in strong objections from the residential communities. Enough is enough, in fact it is too much. The public is seeking legislation to stop further growth.
And lastly, a third example: In a rural area of the foothills of the Ozark mountains (Kentucky or Tennessee), a large processing ‘farm” for Bitcoin produced a constant humming and annoying sound adversely affecting the local residents as well as live stock. – Some choosing to relocate.
The need for increased electricity is explicitly tied to the use of coal, oil, and gas. All being natural resources, carbon based, and of limited (not infinitesimal) availability. At some point one must consider the conservation of these resources that can be extracted and refined at acceptable expense and without causing secondary damage to the planet or its residents. Consider the impacts of fracking and the pollution of water aquifers.
Reliance on carbon-based energy sources, while not the advancement of solar and wind, implies the continuation of increasingly severe air pollution with commensurate impacts on Global Warming and Air Quality. – What’s a few degrees temperature rise? What’s a few inches, or feet, in sea-level rise? What difference does it make if the sky is not crystal clear and the air is foul tasting and loaded with particulates?
As if the cell phone has not had significant impacts on society, the impacts of AI may be exponentially greater and detrimental. The cell phone has changed the way people interact with one another, are entertained, and receive/send information. Sound-bites dominate and thoughtful discourse has gone by the wayside.
AI will be the cell phone on steroids! In the future it will not be what one learns and retains, but how good one is at asking questions to get a quality response to an inquiry. Then, one might consider whether or not the answer is acceptable: being correct, adequate, and comprehensive. — Predictably, one will accept the answer and move on to whatever.
A recent article (from a print newspaper!) indicated that society may experience “cognitive decline”. (Personally, I will bet money on it!). Dependency on AI will have a dehumanizing effect on a worldwide basis.
Comprehensive action needs to be taken to manage AI in the interest of society as a whole, not just a few. If AI continues uncontrolled, it will devastate society – most profoundly in employment on one end of the spectrum and in international politics and peace on the other end. Between these polar extremes, one may speculate a will. If AI solutions replace employment opportunities, there will be increases in welfare spending and at the other extreme earth-shaking decisions might be taken based on faulty information rather than experience, competence, and knowledge. — Personally, the first thing I want is the elimination of the AI “Help” with competent English-speaking humans, preferably located in the U.S.
The overall sociological impact on humanity is incalculable. People will no longer engage with one another; they will not learn and retain factual information or do background research; they become mentally and socially lazy or even isolated.
Using AI, when beneficial to mankind, is important, but when applied in lieu of knowledge and intellect, it is detrimental. AI inherently leads to the acceptance of “forms and functions” while being “content-free”. If one does not recognize and understand the content, one cannot render sound decisions.
This opinion piece was written without the benefit of AI by Calvin Yowell. He is retired from IBM and now lives in Easton.
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Recently driving on Rt 66 in northern Viginia, just east of DC, I saw a number these electricity sucking business parks. Many local residents were not aware of these projects. Considering the environmental AND economic ramifications, I wonder about their ultimate utility. Just sayin’…