Humans have been puzzled by the marvelous workings and machinations of the brain. Even though scientists have been conducting research to dissect  the complexities since countless years, we still don’t know much about it. However we know that brain-like functions can achieve many feats that were not possible before. Hence the origin of Artificial Intelligence.

Artificial Intelligence is a way for us to mimic the functions of the brain. Just like we learn from the data we are given(surroundings), and by mistakes we make, AI allows the machines to learn a specific task in similar manner, most of the times outperforming any humans for the same task, be it playing chess, Go, or a video game like Dota2.

This awesome technology has the capability to change the way we live. However, because of the “superintelligence” that AI can attain over a period of time makes many people paranoid. MIT researchers recently created an AI bot called Norman, and after having taught over data from reddit, it turned psychopathic. Two AI bots created by Facebook had to be turned off as they had developed their own language and were communicating, which was indecipherable.  Pop culture adds fuel to this by depicting AI as a malicious threat to humanity.

AI raises many philosophical and ethical questions among the public. Major opponents of AI propose that AI will not only take over the jobs, but ultimately surpass us and will take over us.  AI can also be used for malicious intents. Most people, when hear the word AI, they picture an intelligent robot, enslaving humans and tormenting us. Somehow, people always have a pessimistic and abhorring view when it comes to topics such as AI and extraterrestrial life. Recent games like Detroit and TV series like Westworld are perfect depiction of the fear of AI.

However, while Nuclear technology is used for making bombs, it is also used to fight cancer. Thus, responsibilities of any technology lie solely on the intentions of the user and not the technology itself. And why should AI have a need of taking over us ? We are superior to all the species on this planet when it comes to intelligence. However we don’t enslave them, even if we have the intelligence to. And while a cat or a dog may not understand how we think and function, they still coexist with us in peace for the most part. In my opinion, trepidation in people rises when they don’t understand how something works, especially when it is something like AI. When such trepidation is amplified with above stated mishaps, it generates wide spread paranoia and thus inertia to growth.

While AI has it’s disadvantages, we cannot deny the fact that it’s effect is meteoric on entire humanity. We all use AI in our everyday lives, be it in spam filters in our mail, recommendations we receive while watching videos or shopping online, using an assistant like Siri, Google Assistant or Alexa, or in analyzing tests in medical field to diagnose a disease. With advanced computing power we have now, it becomes an incubator for rapid growth of AI. Even then, it will take decades before the technology reaches it’s maturity.

Progress of any species can be measured by the technology it uses. We were primitive when we just made weapons to hunt. However we entered the first stage by inventing the wheel. This simple invention changed the entire way humans lived and also increased the living standards drastically. To really comprehend the importance of wheel, we use it till date. Instead of rejecting it, we altered our way of living in order to utilize the functions of wheel to it’s fullest. Similarly, AI is the next stage of technological revolution which will be significant leap for mankind. In such case, instead of generating friction and inertia against it, we must allow it to grow and coexist with this technological marvel which takes us one step closer to the future we so much see in the imaginations of pop culture.

To see something created by humans, surpass our own intelligence is beautiful in it’s own way, like an art outliving the artist, or an apprentice surpassing his/her master. Is AI a threat to us ?  Definitely not, provided that is is used for benevolence. When asked, Google Assistant  answers – ” I do not understand the question “. So we should be safe, for now

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