Summing up the course, first of all, it was not a course from my department, nor am I related to psychology. My friends persuaded me to try it because I needed one extra course for erasmus. I think thanks to this course I learned to evaluate the media in a more psychological way. I think I still dont understand many things that were discussed in this course but I hope that with time I will be able to understand it more easily. Sometimes during the lecture it was hard to concentrate to absorb all the knowledge because it was a bit too much for a 1.5 hour class. The amount of knowledge you wanted to convey was hard to receive in such a short time.
One of the topics that were presented, I liked more and I mean artificial intelligence.Very often in the blog i referred to this topic because it was the most pleasant for me to understand. It also seems to me that this is also one of the themes that we can use in our daily lives. Artificial intelligence is actually with us every day, it accompanies us in many situations. At school, work, medicine and many others.
For some people, this topic is so abstract that it can still be treated as an element of science fiction. Others, in turn, already emphasize the huge impact of AI on human life, expecting even greater changes in the future. Artificial intelligence is an issue that raises a lot of controversy. Is there anything to fear?
The term “artificial intelligence” is very often used in modern science and culture. The first use is attributed to the American computer scientist John McCarthy, who in 1956 defined it as a field involving the engineering of creating intelligent machines. Currently, artificial intelligence has taken a slightly different form, moving from the world of hardware to the world of software. It is defined as a branch of computer science whose goal is to develop models of intelligent behavior, as well as programs that simulate these behaviors.
The basic division distinguishes artificial intelligence into narrow and general – depending on the extent to which a given system is specialized in performing certain activities. The first type is already widely used in technology, while we have to wait a little longer for the second one.
Weak artificial intelligence, sometimes also called narrow AI, is characterized by the fact that it has its specific application. Generally speaking, it is designed to perform specific functions and perform specific tasks. It focuses on solving a given problem with methods that are not available to an ordinary person and in many situations work better. An example of this type of AI is e.g. Siri personal assistant from Apple. This type of solutions is also used by the well-known Google Translate.
Strong artificial intelligence. This variant – strong AI, full AI or artificial general intelligence – refers to intelligent systems that have comprehensive knowledge, independent thinking and cognition capabilities. By design, they can do everything that a human can do, and they are also able to perform tasks that they have never dealt with before. According to the European Parliament’s 2020 report, we are still decades away from such technology. It is assumed that 86 billion neurons and 150 trillion real-time connections are needed to simulate the human brain. It’s hard to say what the current maximum capabilities of AI are, but at this point even relatively simple biological systems – such as the brain of scientists’ favorite animal, the mouse – are beyond our reach
The development of general artificial intelligence will improve work at every level of the industry. Seemingly, such a solution may seem very beneficial, but after deeper consideration, a question related to jobs arises. Since all activities can be performed by autonomous robots, it will not be necessary to hire additional employees. From this perspective, the overall AI is not so encouraging anymore.
However, some economists and politicians see it as an opportunity to improve the living conditions of a large part of humanity. Most plans, however, include the introduction of the so-called UBI, or universal basic income (unconditional basic income). It is a solution according to which every citizen, regardless of the situation, receives a certain amount from the government. Although such a proposal may seem unrealistic in the current circumstances, it is implemented to a limited extent in other countries. One of the most famous experiments was the introduction of UBI in Finland in 2017, but after two years the government abandoned such a mechanism. The use of AI as the main production force can completely change the rules of the game in this field, irreversibly changing the social model that has been functioning for years – for better or worse.
Is there anything to fear? A more pessimistic scenario for the development of smart systems involves many risks. What can happen if systems are programmed to, for example, kill or destroy? At all costs, general AI must be prevented from falling into the wrong hands. It could then be used as an intelligent weapon that would be impossible to deal with. Even if the developers have no ill intentions, there are still some concerns. Intelligent machines designed to do useful things can adopt a destructive method to achieve the end goal. After all, they are not constrained by certain moral standards. The motto of such robots can be the saying “over the dead to the goal”. As you can see, artificial intelligence has both advantages and disadvantages. Each of them can be replaced endlessly. So is there a way to find the golden mean? Many specialists take the position that the best solution is a prudent approach to the matter. New technological possibilities cannot be allowed to overwhelm human wisdom – it would result in losing control over what we have created. Therefore, special attention should be paid to security – only in this way will we be able to consciously and effectively use intelligent systems.