Arnold Schwarzenegger has a lot to be proud of. It has nothing to do with his accomplishments in bodybuilding, politics, or even most of his movie career. Mr. Schwarzenegger’s biggest accomplishment has been creating an image of what artificial intelligence will do to humanity. His 1984 portrayal of the CSM 1O1 terminator and its controlling AI, Skynet, has created an image of AI rising and destroying mankind in one simple stroke. The idea is so ingrained in our mindset that a poll released in June 2023 on CNN.com stated that 42% of CEOs think AI could destroy mankind within ten years. A June 10, 2023, New York Times.com article boldly asked, “How Will A.I. Destroy Humanity?” I had no interest in reading further, but the link is provided, so feel free to let me know what it says. Panicked articles and videos never amount to much, and the basic premise is wrong. These “experts” and authors fear AI but fail to realize the truth. The AI revolution is already here. It won’t destroy mankind, and we can do nothing about it. Given the trajectory of Western economies, more people need to learn how to use AI to launch businesses and take advantage of another huge opportunity to create wealth.
AI in the Real World: A Brief History
Artificial intelligence isn’t new. The field was formalized in 1956 when it was first recognized as an academic discipline and was given its name by John McCarthy during a workshop in Dartmouth. Technological limitations meant slow progress, but computing advances enabled AI to grow rapidly in ever-increasing leaps. The first major public breakthrough occurred in 1996 when IBM’s Deep Blue played chess Grandmaster Garry Kasparov – and won two games. Kasparov won the series, but AI came close to splitting the 6-game tournament. That was when A.I. first took the public’s attention.
It slipped back into the background but never vanished. A.I. research kept moving forward in handwriting, speech, and image recognition. In 2018, A.I. reached human levels of reading comprehension and language understanding. These developments were possible because of machine learning advancements and the subtle introduction of AI into everyday use. Tools like Apple’s Siri, introduced in 2011, followed by Google Assistant, Alexa, Cortana, and others, enabled developers and researchers to make massive leaps. Today, AI is dominated by companies like Google and Microsoft, with Amazon, Meta, and Apple building their models.
A.I. has gained access to nearly every part of modern life, and this is just the beginning.
Will AI Destroy Mankind?
This doesn’t address the perception that “Skynet is coming!”
The A.I. doomsday prophets need to take one thing into account – A.I. is trained by people. If those programmers are violent, hateful people, the A.I. is likely to share a portion of their views. For example, if Germany had developed AI during World War 2, its views would not be appreciated in modern times, and several groups of people would have suffered even more. That A.I. would likely have embodied some of the worst traits in people.
The solution is balance. A.I. must be trained to take a balanced view of situations, weigh objective truths, and formulate a logical conclusion.
The answer is straightforward: AI will not be used at the end of humanity; people have that issue covered. We don’t need to fear A.I.
The Future of A.I.
What does the future hold for AI? Everything. This technology is already working its way into numerous aspects of daily life, and the penetration level will get deeper. Here are some areas where AI could dominate in the next few years:
Entertainment. Programs like Unity and Unreal Engine can already create worlds that are indistinguishable from reality. If this is fully integrated into entertainment, production values could skyrocket. Films could recreate any historical era, let us explore new worlds in fully interactive environments, and possibly replace actors with virtual stars.
Medicine. Today, AI is used in clinical decision support and to improve medical imaging analysis. AI could change the face of medicine. What kind of an impact will an AI have once trained to diagnose an illness? Medical specialists might see a few thousand cases of an ailment in their careers. A medical AI could be trained on hundreds of thousands of cases, allowing it to spot diseases sooner and prescribe optimal treatment. A sufficiently advanced AI could make these assessments in seconds.
Logistics. Today, AI is used to plot delivery routes for some companies. Reliable self-driving cars are still developing, but once the technology is sufficiently advanced, routes and driving will be viable options for companies.
Legal cases. Precedents and case law are key figures in various legal cases. It’s not uncommon for lawyers to employ people to research precedents and case law. A trained AI can replace those people with a much lower cost, more efficient, accurate assistant. It could even help the lawyer determine if a case is worth taking on.
Coding. AI is already capable of developing code and will continue to improve. It’s not unreasonable to consider software developers and engineers being replaced by an advanced AI.
This is a tiny portion of industries that will be impacted by AI. Very few won’t feel some shift as AI applications disrupt numerous aspects life. The AI revolution is well underway. It’s still in its early stages, and opportunities are everywhere. Start a business and learn how to integrate AI into every aspect of your business that makes sense. You can ride the AI wave to financial freedom or get washed out by that wave.
Choose wisely!