Artificial Intelligence: Origin, Risks, & Possibilities
Artificial Intelligence is like a new student at school—you’re unsure if it will become your ally or hurdle. Just like a double-edged sword, AI tackles complex tasks faster but it may come with consequences.
Six years ago, I wrote an article about this topic, titled “Should We Worry About Artificial Intelligence (AI)?” I highlighted what was once science fiction is now a reality. I referenced Sophia, an AI robot who can converse naturally. She can also make 62 facial expressions, and has even earned citizenship in Saudi Arabia.
In that same article, I added a disclaimer: 'For now, no AI-powered robot volunteered to write this article—but let’s watch out for their comments.' But today, AI has advanced so much that it can write articles for us.
In 2022, I had the chance to delve into a pressing issue—job displacement caused by artificial intelligence. My article, “Can Artificial Intelligence Steal Our Jobs?”, explored AI’s rapid advancements and their impact on the workforce.
AI-equipped robots taking over service jobs in Japan and China really struck me. Back then, I couldn't help but wonder if one day we might not only lose jobs but also lose human interaction.
Today, Artificial Intelligence continues to reshape the world and how we live. As AI integrates into our daily lives naturally, more questions are popping up. For those new to AI, let's briefly explore what AI is and how it began.
What is AI or Artificial Intelligence?
Artificial Intelligence (AI) refers to machines or systems that can perform tasks typically requiring human intelligence. Some of these tasks include learning, problem-solving, recognizing patterns, and browsing the Internet. Examples are virtual assistants like Siri and Chatbots, and one of the most popular today is ChatGPT.
Types of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Artificial intelligence can be divided into different types based on how it functions and its level of complexity. Each type represents a different stage in AI development, from basic systems to more advanced, human-like understanding.
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- Reactive Machine:
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These AIs can only respond to specific tasks based on current data. They do not store experiences or learn from them.
Example: Spam Filters - They identify and block spam emails based on current data patterns.
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- Theory of Mind:
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This type of AI attempts to understand and respond to human emotions and intentions. Theory of Mind AI is still in development, it needs a level of human-like awareness and reasoning that current AI technologies have not yet achieved.
You may think ChatGPT is an example, but it doesn't truly understand emotions or intentions. But ChatGPT has endless potential and continuous growth, future models may develop advanced methods to recognize and respond to human emotions.
Brief history of AI or Artificial Intelligence
The history of AI started in the 1950s. Alan Turing, the father of modern computer science, proposed we could create machines that think like humans.
In 1956, John McCarthy, the father of AI, named the field "artificial intelligence" at the Dartmouth Conference meeting. Early AI research focused on simple tasks like problem-solving and using rules to mimic human thinking. But AI's progress could have been faster if the technology back then wasn't limited.
In the 1990s and 2000s, AI made significant leaps with machine learning, enabling computers to learn from data. A notable achievement was IBM's Deep Blue, a specialized chess-playing computer. Deep Blue defeated world champion Garry Kasparov in 1997. This victory showcased AI's complex, strategic thinking, reflecting Alan Turing's 1950 vision that machines could think like humans.
History of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
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- 1929
- Japanese professor Makoto Nishimura built Japan’s first robot, named Gakutensoku.
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- 1950
- Alan Turing proposed the Imitation Game test for machine intelligence in “Computer Machinery and Intelligence”.
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- 1979
- The American Association of Artificial Intelligence (now AAAI) was founded.
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- 1986
- Ernst Dickmann and his team created the first driverless car, which could drive up to 55 mph without human drivers.
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- 1997
- IBM’s Deep Blue defeated chess champion Gary Kasparov, the first computer to beat a human champion.
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- 2003
- NASA’s rovers Spirit and Opportunity landed on Mars and explored its surface without human help.
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- 2011
- Apple introduced Siri, the first popular virtual assistant.
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- 2022
- OpenAI released ChatGPT, a conversational AI that generates human-like text on many topics.
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- 2024
- Google launched Gemini AI, advancing natural language understanding and generation.
AI Today
Recently, AI has advanced rapidly through deep learning and large datasets. It started impacting the healthcare, finance, and transportation industries, including the development of self-driving cars.
One of the most notable AI tools today is ChatGPT, which can generate human-like text, assist with tasks like writing, and hold conversations. OpenAI, founded in 2015, launched ChatGPT in November 2022 with a modest expectation. OpenAI viewed ChatGPT as a simple “research preview,” and to gather feedback. They didn’t expect ChatGPT to become mainstream, a big hit!
Elon Musk is one of the co-founders of OpenAI. However, he left the board in 2018 due to differing views on the organization’s direction. Even after his departure, Musk remains an outspoken critic of the potential risks that AI poses. He advocates for regulations to prevent the technology from becoming a threat if left unchecked.
As AI continues to grow, it presents both opportunities and challenges, sparking debates about its current and future impact. Is AI changing the world for the better, enhancing our lives, or is it a looming threat that could lead us toward danger?
Let’s dive into these topics to expand our understanding and perspective:
- The Pros & Cons of AI
- The Need for AI Regulation
- The Path Forward with AI
The Pros & Cons of Artificial Intelligence
As AI evolves, its benefits and drawbacks are evident in many areas. Let’s start exploring some of the advantages Artificial Intelligence brings to us:
How Does Artificial Intelligence Benefit Us?
Artificial Intelligence’s Impact on Global Issues
Organizations use Artificial Intelligence to improve decision-making and address global challenges. AI provides faster and more effective methods to respond to natural disasters, helping communities react quickly and recover efficiently.
For example, hurricane Helene hit Florida last September 26,2024, classified as Category 3. This disaster caused an estimated $30.5 billion to $47.5 billion in damages. After just two weeks, Hurricane Milton left over 3 million people without electricity. Experts estimate the damages to be between $30 billion and $50 billion.
AI quickly assessed the damage caused by hurricanes Helene and Milton in Florida. By analyzing drone footage, AI provided fast evaluations of the destruction, which helped speed up recovery efforts. This technology is especially useful in rural areas with fewer resources, allowing communities to get important information quickly and recover more efficiently.
AI could enhance our ability to fight climate change. It can also improve disaster response by providing accurate weather predictions paving the way for a much more efficient resource management. Efforts in climate management have already achieved significant progress.
In São Paulo, Brazil, a tech startup company called Sipremo uses AI for weather prediction. AI predicts climate disasters, including where and when they will happen and what type they will be. This helps businesses and governments prepare for climate change and its effects on communities. Sipremo analyzes disaster conditions and air quality to decide whether to delay or cancel events.
AI-Driven Data Processing on Healthcare
AI easily processes large amounts of data, speeding up the creation of important information. AI delivers faster results that offer bigger benefits across industries like healthcare, but we still need human verification.
For instance, healthcare professionals use IBM Watson's AI systems to analyze medical data and assist with diagnostics. It improves accuracy and efficiency in patient care. These systems even detect severe sepsis in premature babies with 75% accuracy.
Another example is Google DeepMind’s AI algorithms analyze complex datasets in healthcare and enhance decision-making processes. DeepMind AI systems can predict patient deterioration up to 48 hours earlier than current methods. This allows doctors to plan and act earlier.
Created by UCLA researchers, SLIViT (Slice Integration by Vision Transformer) can look at different kinds of 3D medical images, like MRIs and CT scans, to quickly find signs of disease. It works much faster than human specialists, making expert image analysis easier to access and more affordable, which helps improve patient care.
AI-Enhanced Public Security and Crime Prevention
AI is also impacting crime prevention and security. It enables more efficient and accurate ways of detecting, predicting, and responding to criminal activities. We see its impact in both law enforcement and cybersecurity, ensuring safer physical and digital spaces.
Clearview AI is one of the tools used by law enforcement. Clearview AI provides a facial recognition app for law enforcement to match faces with a large public image database. This technology is being used in the war between Ukraine and Russia, helping five agencies and 200 personnel conduct over 5,000 searches, and it was tailored for Ukrainian-speaking users.
Another example is Motorola Solutions. They help police respond faster to emergencies by linking 9-1-1 call data to real-time crime centers. In Glendale, this technology enabled officers to quickly catch a shooting suspect. Motorola Solutions shows how it improves safety and teamwork between law enforcement and the community.
AI Solutions for Rapid Fraud Detection
In finance, AI is a key tool for detecting and preventing fraud, protecting consumers and businesses. Financial companies use AI to analyze transaction data and identify patterns that indicate possible fraud.
PayPal is one of the companies that actively works hard for faster fraud detection. PayPal reduced fraud by using Aerospike's platform to quickly analyze transaction data for better fraud detection. Aerospike is designed to handle large volumes of data with minimal delays, making it ideal for fast transactions. This effort resulted in a 30X reduction in missed fraudulent transactions and improved SLA adherence to 99.95%.
We also have FICO Falcon Fraud Manager which improves fraud detection by adding a Scam Detection Score. FICO’s efforts help banks tell the difference between scams and unauthorized fraud. The model uses customer behavior lists, risk ratios, and data analysis to distinguish between scams and fraud more accurately. It detects 50% more scams while keeping the review rate low.
What Are the Risks Associated with Artificial Intelligence?
AI offers undeniable benefits, but it also presents significant challenges that we must address to realize its full potential. Tackling these issues could pave the way for an even more powerful and transformative version of AI.
Privacy and Data Security
Nowadays, AI can easily gather data, making it riskier to leave digital footprints. We cannot predict when or where our data might be leaked or misused. One of the most prominent data privacy breaches was the Cambridge Analytica Scandal in 2018.
Machine learning and data-driven approaches, which fall under the broader AI umbrella, were likely used to collect, process, and analyze data from 87 million Facebook users without their consent, raising serious privacy concerns. This scandal highlighted how AI can be misused for targeted political advertising.
Disinformation and Fake News
One major issue occurs when AI produces false or misleading information due to insufficient or ambiguous data, a phenomenon known as AI hallucinations. These hallucinations typically arise when the AI model tries to fill gaps in knowledge or encounters poorly structured input, leading it to generate content that appears coherent but is factually incorrect.
Such errors can cause confusion and result in poor decision-making, especially in critical areas like healthcare, finance, autonomous systems, politics, and more.
One example of AI-generated misinformation is a fabricated story about Benjamin Netanyahu’s psychiatrist, falsely claiming he died and left a note implicating the Israeli prime minister. This fake article, generated by AI, quickly spread across different media sites, leading to confusion and spreading false information. It blurred the line between fact and fiction, making it harder for people to trust what they read.
Safety (Self-driving Cars)
AI systems, such as Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) technology, have raised significant concerns about safety. On October 18, 2023, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) opened an investigation. This inquiry involves 2.4 million Tesla vehicles equipped with FSD software after four reported collisions.
One accident involved a 2021 Tesla Model Y that killed a pedestrian in Rimrock, Arizona, in November 2023. Tesla Model S cars also hit and killed a 28-year-old motorcyclist in Seattle last April 2024.
The fatal crashes occurred in conditions of reduced visibility, such as sun glare, fog, or airborne dust. Tesla’s “camera-only” self-driving cars raise concerns about risks. The fact that these vehicles do not have backup sensors fuels the concerns for public safety.
Racial Bias and Discrimination
A study by MIT Media Lab found that facial recognition systems developed by major tech companies such as IBM, Microsoft, and Face++ had significantly higher error rates. For lighter-skinned men, the error rate was less than 1%, while it reached up to 35% for darker-skinned women.
There are two sides to everything; the same goes for Artificial Intelligence (AI). While I cannot deny the risks, I am equally amazed by its benefits.
The Need for AI Regulation
The risks discussed above highlight the importance of finding a balance between AI's benefits and risks. This brings up questions like: should AI have limitations on its impact within certain industries? And if so, should it be government-regulated?
The European Commission's Efforts for AI Regulations
The EU AI Act, proposed by the European Commission in April 2021, is a step toward the solution of AI’s regulations. EU AI Act is one of the world's first regulations designed to govern AI use.
The EU AI Act categorizes AI systems based on their risk levels—from minimal to high-risk—and establishes rules to ensure transparency, safety, and accountability in AI systems. This initiative highlights the need for responsible AI regulation, especially in crucial areas like law enforcement and individual rights.
Companies that violate the rules face financial penalties of up to €35 million or 7% of global turnover, depending on the severity of the breach. With safeguards against mass surveillance and restrictions on biometric scanning, this regulation ensures AI's future development aligns with citizens’ fundamental rights.
Before this, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which was also created by the European Union, set strong standards for protecting personal data in 2018. GDPR applies to any organization that processes data from EU citizens. It laid the groundwork for further regulations like the EU AI Act by promoting privacy and transparency in how data is handled. Many companies, including major tech firms like Google and Facebook, have faced hefty fines for violating GDPR, showing the importance of following these rules.
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Meta (Facebook)
- Fine:
- €1.2 billion
- Reason:
- Violating rules on transferring user data out of the EU (May 2023).
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Amazon
- Fine:
- €746 million
- Reason:
- Using personal data for ad targeting without consent (July 2021).
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ByteDance (TikTok)
- Fine:
- €345 million
- Reason:
- Mishandling minors’ data (September 2023).
These regulations highlight Europe’s commitment to using technology ethically and protecting individual rights, especially digital privacy. By enforcing compliance through strict penalties, both regulations reflect a firm stance on ensuring that technological advancements respect the rights and freedoms of individuals.
The Path Forward: Shaping the Future with AI for Growth and Impact
How AI acts, reacts, and functions is still determined by its creators, the human race—and hopefully, it will stay that way. Despite the potential risks and uncertainties around regulation, I believe we can achieve a brighter future with AI by investing in the following key areas:
- Environmental Impact
- RnD of Innovative AI Applications
- Employee Development
Environmental Impact
As previously discussed, another key direction for AI development is to focus on projects that benefit society as a whole. By prioritizing AI for social good, we can help ensure it’s used responsibly. For example, Microsoft's AI for Earth initiative uses AI to track animal populations to help prevent mass extinction. AI for Earth combats illegal fishing to preserve species that need preservation.
Video from Microsoft's YouTube post.
Similarly, Google AI for Social Good has developed a project that uses AI to predict flooding. This tool analyzes weather data and historical patterns to help communities prepare for floods, saving lives and protecting property. Emphasizing socially beneficial AI is essential for harnessing its power responsibly.
RnD of Innovative AI Applications
Let’s go back to when smartphones first hit the market. That time, they were seen as an all-in-one tool for basic tasks like computing, reading, and sending text messages. When the App Store was launched, it opened up a new world of opportunities for many individuals and businesses in every industry.
Companies started innovating around smartphones and created apps, games, and books. Carrying books, useful tools, and games in our pocket used to be impossible. But now, useful tools and apps are available at our fingertips!
In much the same way, AI is sparking a new wave of transformation. Just like the App Store changed how we use smartphones, AI is set to change how we work, live, and use technology. This shift will bring new ideas and create opportunities that, much like when smartphones first came out, we’re only beginning to understand.
To fully understand the potential of AI, we need to pay attention to the research and development of AI-powered applications that can improve different industries and solve long-standing problems. AI’s impact could go far beyond what we see today. For instance, it could enhance mental health by creating personalized therapy chatbots. Another one may be an app for farmers to check their crops’ conditions, or track the weather predictions for the whole year and plan better on planting.
Employee Development
As I mentioned earlier, I’ve written about the impact of AI on job displacement before. I wrote, “Although not all positions have been overtaken, Artificial Intelligence and robots are slowly entering the human workspace as employees, not just simple task helpers.”
One of the ways to address AI's impact on employment is to invest in education. As AI transforms industries, workers need new skills to remain competitive in the job market.
For example, MasterCard Inc. uses an internal platform called Unlocked to match employees with projects, mentoring, and training by recommending them based on both skills they have and skills they want to build. With 90% of employees and 500k project hours completed, about one-third of participants received a promotion.
Hilton, a worldwide hotel company that operates many hotels and resorts. The company has invested in MentorcliQ, which pairs employees with mentors using an algorithm. They also use BetterUp, which offers virtual coaching by matching employees with certified coaches and personalized content through machine learning and AI. These initiatives aim to support employee development and well-being.
Companies' Initiatives for Employee Development
Several prominent tech companies offer robust training and development initiatives to enhance employee skills and to keep pace with fast-changing technological advancements, promoting career growth. Similarly, we at Armada Logics, as a top-tier offshore software development company working with Silicon Valley-based companies, is committed to empowering our team to thrive in the age of AI, ensuring that we remain at the forefront of innovation.
Our team at Armada Logics is at the forefront of revolutionizing software development by integrating advanced AI technologies such as:
- Fine-Tuning Large Language Models (LLMs)
- AI Agents
- Natural Language to SQL and Vector Databases
- AI Software Development Tools
As we have learned so far about AI, it offers many possibilities and opportunities. Many years ago, people could not have imagined what AI tools could do for us today. Now, we are heading to a future where AI is part of anything we can envision.
How Do You Envision The Future with AI?
I believe the answer to this question is subjective. Many famous people, like Elon Musk and Stephen Hawking, have expressed their concern for AI. However, despite the undeniable risks, we can't ignore AI’s benefits in various industries. Staying informed will help us take advantage of AI's benefits.
For startups and businesses, keeping up with AI trends is crucial to staying competitive. Armada Logics stands out among offshore development companies, offering the expertise and support needed to bring AI projects to life—helping companies stay ahead with custom, high-quality AI solutions.
If you’re interested in connecting with us, please contact us at clients@armadalogics.com.