After Decades of artificial intelligence (AI) being the stuff of science fiction, it seems that AI’s influence on everyday life is becoming increasingly far reaching.
News broadcasts in India have stunned viewers after it was revealed that two anchors were in fact simulations.
The anchors, named Lisa and Sana, can deliver news content 24 hours a day in several languages. They were designed using widely accepted Indian beauty standards. They never get tired and they never switch off.
The phenomenon has even reached some parts of Pakistan and Bangladesh and the move is being celebrated as the next advancement in broadcasting.
The introduction of AI is expected to have a massive impact on the workforce, but media giants who are investing in AI say it will only be used to complement the workforce, not replace it.
While the labour and human issues around the use of AI seem to have clear and simple solutions, it also presents a much bigger and more daunting issue: “The Black Box Problem”
The University of Michigan-Dearborn describes The Black Box Problem as “ an inability for us to see how deep learning systems make their decisions”.
Artificial intelligence is constantly learning from the world around it, and more importantly, from itself. It provides an answer to the questions it’s asked but does not “show its working”. This means that while we are able to use AI’s solutions, we have no access to its thoughts, planning, or internal logic.
This has frightened a lot of AI’s opponents and has raised questions about how much control AI should have over the world around us. It also raises ethical issues, including data privacy, algorithmic bias, and potential misuse of AI technologies.
BRICS countries have called for the strengthening of Artificial Intelligence international governance, policy exchanges and dialogues. With rapid developments and increasing scrutiny, AI has caught the eyes of many governments. The foreign Ministers of BRICS met in South Africa last month to discuss various issues including AI. In a joint statement, the BRICS Foreign Ministers “emphasised the responsible and ethical development and use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for socio-economic development and inclusive growth of all societies.”
Renowned physicist Stephen Hawking once said of AI, “Humans, who are limited by slow biological evolution, couldn’t compete, and would be superseded.”
There is undoubtedly still time before we have to worry about the world turning into a science fiction movie. As for now, Sana and Lisa are delighting viewers, and signaling the coming of a new age.
