Artificial Intelligence: Boom or a Threat?

The advent of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has revolutionized the world. It carries multiple advantages as well as disadvantages, but when deciding whether it is a boom or a threat, its threats often outweigh its boom. AI’s ability to perform surgeries, decide lawsuits and drive cars can certainly be seen as blessings. However, artificial systems lacking emotions and prone to biased training data can also prove inconvenient, life-changing, and even fatal. For instance, in 2016, a passport application of an Asian man in New Zealand was rejected because an AI wrongly declared that his eyes were closed simply because they were smaller. Similarly, in the same year, a self-driving Tesla crashed into a truck after mistaking its white side for the sky, resulting in the death of the driver. These incidents demonstrate that while AI holds immense potential, it cannot think or perform like the human brain. It is also hard to decide whether AI is a boom or a threat because, like everything in the world, it carries both positive and negative aspects. For developed countries like United Kingdom (UK), which has successfully implemented AI in its education systems, it has proved to be a boon by improving efficiency and learning outcomes. On the other hand, for underdeveloped countries like Pakistan, which are already struggling with governance and resources, the misuse of AI in the hands of biased or untrained individuals can be devastating. Thus, fairness, equity and justice are divine and are fundamental to human dignity. Therefore, must remain under the control of biological intelligence, not artificial intelligence.