Will it steal my job?
The fear is AI will
eliminate millions of jobs. The hope is it will help improve how millions do
their jobs. The current reality is somewhere in between.
Companies will likely
need new workers to help them implement and manage AI tools. Employment of data
analysts and scientists, machine learning specialists and cybersecurity experts
is forecast to
grow 30% on average by 2027, according to one recent estimate from the World
Economic Forum.
But the proliferation
of AI will also likely put
many roles at risk eventually. There could be 26 million fewer record-keeping
and administrative jobs by 2027, the
WEF predicted. Data entry clerks and executive secretaries are expected to see
the steepest losses.
For now, there are
clearly limits to how well AI can do the job of a human on its own. After media
outlet CNET experimented with using AI to write articles, tech website
Futurism uncovered factual errors
and in some cases, plagiarism, in various pieces. Likewise, a lawyer in May
made headlines for citing false court cases to a judge provided to him by ChatGPT. In an
affidavit, the lawyer said he had never used ChatGPT as a legal research tool
before and “was unaware of the possibility that its content could be false.”
Is AI dangerous?
Top AI executives
have warned that
AI could potentially bring about human extinction. But these same executives
are also racing to deploy the technology into their products.
Some experts say that
focusing on far-off doomsday scenarios
may distract from the more immediate harms that AI can cause, such as spreading
misinformation, perpetuating biases that exist in training data, and enabling
discrimination.
For example, generative
AI could be used to create deepfakes to spread propaganda during an election or
enable a frightening new era of scams. Some AI models have also been criticized
for what the industry calls “hallucinations,” or making up information.
Even before the rise of
ChatGPT, there were concerns about AI acting as a gatekeeper that can determine who does and does not move
forward in a hiring process, for example. AI-powered facial recognition systems
have also resulted in some wrongful arrests,
and research has
shown these systems are drastically more prone to error when trying to match
the faces of darker skinned people.
The more AI tools are
incorporated into core parts of society, the more potential there is for
unintended consequences.
Where does AI go from here?
Regulators in the United States and Europe are
pushing for legislation to help put guardrails in place for AI, which could
ultimately impact how the technology develops. But it’s unclear if lawmakers
can keep pace with the rapid advances in AI.
Experts believe in the
months ahead, generative AI will go on to create even more realistic images,
videos, and audio that could further disrupt media, entertainment,
tech and other industries. The
technology will likely become increasingly conversational and personalized.
In March, OpenAI unveiled GPT-4,
the next-generation version of the technology that powers ChatGPT. According to
the company and early tests, GPT-4 is able to provide more detailed and
accurate written responses, pass academic tests with high marks and build a
working website from a hand-drawn sketch. (Altman has previously said OpenAI
is not yet training GPT-5.)
AI will almost
certainly be infused
into many more products and services in the coming months. That means we’ll all
have to learn how to live with it.
As ChatGPT put it in
response to a prompt from CNN, “AI has the potential to transform our lives …
but it’s crucial for companies and individuals to be mindful of the
accompanying risks and responsibly address concerns.”
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