We’ve all heard about the fear of AI from Elon Musk to Hollywood. There is a legitimate concern that world governments will use it to create a weapon of mass destruction like nuclear weapons, or that we’ll be ruled by evil robot overlords. But what are the good aspects of it?
The fear of AI will make us irrelevant and behind while other countries advance far ahead and enjoying their lives made better with it.
I’m not an expert on this topic but the average person should know how new technology will affect their lives.
Hypothetically speaking, how will our lives be better? Here are my thoughts on AI.
Health and medicine
AI computes far faster than the human brain and provide a more accurate diagnosis, then provide an individualized treatment plan based on the data it gathered from millions of another similar diagnosis.
When it does become “strong AI,” the ability to think like a human, we can expect it to create cures for debilitating diseases like Alzheimer’s or cancer.
Safety
Self-driving cars already exist and once it’s commonly used, the number of car accidents will be dramatically reduced. According to the National Safety Council, last year over 40,000 was killed in car crashes and causing $413.8 billion in damages.
Additionally, AI can help authorities faster by fighting crimes like human trafficking and child sexual abuse.
Increased production
Automation is another common fear; that our jobs will be taken by robots and we’ll be left destitute. I think the opposite would occur, instead, we’ll see an increase in material wealth because goods and services are cheaper.
With more cheap goods and basic necessities widely available, poverty will be reduced. We already see evidence of this with assembly line production of cars and canned food.
AI has a higher output and works faster than humans. The human workers who manage a team of AI wouldn’t have to stress over sick workers, vacation days, or a worker who suddenly quit; all these factors reduce efficiency and productivity and increase costly mistakes. Managers would only have to worry about maintenance and updating software.
New industries and jobs
Nobody knew how the internet would flourish into what we see today. Social media marketing, drop shopping, and digital currency are all by-products of the internet.
The horse and buggy industry went out of business after the invention of the Model T, but blue collar jobs like manufacturing engineering were created. Likewise, AI will do similar.
More free time
Machines will do most of the strenuous and hard labor jobs, which will free us to pursue our personal and creative interests. Creativity will be our unique in-demand service.