7 Top AI Threats Every Individual Should Be Aware Of

Today it is nearly impossible not to feel overwhelmed by the hype surrounding artificial intelligence or AI. AI’s remarkable strides in recent years in transforming our lives and shaping various industries is indeed praiseworthy. However, there is no denying that there is also dark side to AI that equally warrants our attention and caution. Recognizing and acknowledging these risks is important to safeguard our society against the long-term negative effect and the catastrophic impact of AI. On this note, let us dwell into 7 AI threats that every individual should be aware and mindful of.

• Threat to jobs: AI’s threat of job displacement cannot be more overemphasized. It is all but certain that AI will automate scores of jobs that are currently been monopolized by humans. While the list certainly includes several traditional jobs, many jobs that seem less vulnerable and suspectable may also come under threat. In a nutshell, in order to remain employable and avoid economic hardship, most of us will have to acquire new skills and quickly adapt themselves to new demands set forth by the job market.

• Privacy Concerns: Today we are completely in awe of AI’s superlative and human-like intelligence. But AI needs enormous amount of data to function and fulfill several complex tasks effectively. In other words, AI simply cannot perform without data. Its insatiable hunger for data invariably implies the risk of data being misused and even mishandled, leading to serious privacy breach and even identity of threat. The privacy violation caused by AI can be so severe that it can even predict users’ future behavior based on their current online activities.

• Bias and Discrimination: If humans can be biased then why not AI algorithms. AI algorithms can be inherently biased based on the data they are trained on, leading to severe discrimination that could be targeted against specific gender, race, religion or any other identity-based group. This can result in biased and partisan treatment in important institutions like judiciary, law enforcement and media, encouraging practices in society that goes against humanitarian values like equality and fairness. Therefore, implementing transparency, and ethical practices in AI development is important to keep these biases under check.

• Autonomous weapons: Many may be unaware that AI powered autonomous weapons are gaining huge popularity in the global military industry. If this trend continues then going forward all wars in the future will be fought solely by military machines with minimum or even zero human intervention. Allowing war machines to wield so much power can have catastrophic outcome for global peace and world at large. Try imagining the calamitous result if tomorrow an autonomous nuclear weapon were to go completely out-of-control. Hence there is a dire need for regulation and established guidelines for manufacturing and use of autonomous weapons.        

• Danger of Misinformation: The implosion of social media has made misinformation and fake news into a monstrous problem and AI can add more fire into this incremental problem. The market is currently overwhelmed with AI powered tools that can create fake audios and videos of public figures that could appear unbelievably real. This could lead to exponential rise in the spread of misinformation and fake news. Such misinformation can be weaponized by vested interest to manipulate public opinion or defame certain individuals.

• Threat to Democracy: As hinted previously that AI can generate fake news and misinformation at an unimaginable scale and this fact can greatly undermines the democratic process across the world. Some experts fear that without proper regulation AI can wield unrestrained power to manipulate social opinion in the favor of authoritarianism and erode democratic values from our society.          

• AI singularity: Last but not least, Ai singularity is probably one of the worst risks that AI poses to the human society. Ai singularity refers to hypothetical future point when AI will surpass human intelligence, leading to irreversible and unintended consequences. In the worst-case scenario, AI singularity can pose a direct existential threat to the entire human race, mimicking the Hollywood sci-fi plot where machines become all too powerful for the humans.

While it is certainly important to recognize these threats and accordingly encourage public discourse over ethical considerations, it is equally critical to acknowledge that AI offers numerous positive opportunities for transformative changes. Hence it is of paramount importance for the society and world at large to do everything possible to mitigate the risks associated with AI technology while leveraging the amazing potential it has to offer.