Artificial Intelligence in our day and age - is it better to use AI as and when required with restraint based on our needs or bank on it fully for everything as if it were a God?

      AI has become a buzzword in our day and age as AI finds more and more applications in everyday life as everyone from software engineers to mechatronics experts scramble to implement various types of AI in technology and mechanical systems (as a marketing tool for their products) alike so much so that it is hard to find anything out there in the world without AI. While AI itself has been around at least as a term from the 1920's when it was purely a figment of science fiction in films made by a Karel Capek who was the first to use the term. Alan Tureng - The Father of Computer Science was considered the first person to talk about AI as a theoretical reality, John Macarthy known as the "Father of AI" later popularised AI, spoke of it extensively and contributed to its development from a practical standpoint, only recently has the term been making circles on social media, media and the Internet with an ever-increasing number of people talking about it extensively. On the one hand, AI's entry into so many fields has sparked an ever-increasing number of debates as to whether or not people working in various domains are likely to lose their jobs, since AI is a tool that is fundamentally designed to handle jobs involving repetitive tasks, on the other hand, many AI gurus have tried to allay public fears that AI is not here to handle all tasks completely without human oversight at least in its current state, since AI technology is still in its infancy and that AI's incursion into various fields only implies that those already working in those domains have to shift to new "executive" domains so as not to lose their jobs. However, how true is this statement by AI gurus that AI is there only to aid and not to replace jobs- something that is weaponised by those holding executive positions in companies that continually reassure their employees that they have nothing to fear but to adapt to the change?. Then again, what are the other risks involving AI and how often is the use of AI justified and what are the risks of excessive dependence on AI. We will look at the below -


i) AI - is it truly there to aid regular employees with repetitive tasks or make their jobs obsolete by taking over such tasks fully?

   While it is true that AI can be used to aid our tasks in our daily work at office and people in executive posts often seek to assuage or lay to rest fears among regular employees that AI is there to replace their jobs using arguments like AI's current state of being in a very nascent stage and their attempts to point out that AI is to be used in tandem by regular employees as a tool that boosts their productivity and not replace their jobs. These explanations do nothing to make managers realise that AI is a tool in human hands per se and is not to be seen as a means to an end in itself or to change their misguided perception that they can save costs by relying on AI instead of having to pay employees whose jobs entailed what AI tools can perform. For instance, a translator may use AI to increase his productivity within very short and stringent deadlines but those who give him the document for translation may think that they can get away with relying on AI on their own without having to spend money on a translator's expertise that can catch subtle details like cultural nuances related to the translation or the undertones or communicative styles of specific languages which a human translator's mind can perceive because for most of those managers who were formerly giving work to human translators, their minds may think "Aw, come on!, why pay a translator when online AI translator can do the same?" - this may lead to the translator losing his job in the long run when his management decides to shut down the translation team that he worked in and force him into domains that he is totally new to and clueless about expecting quick ramp-up which is not possible for all people from a language domain.

ii) AI - can be manipulated by humans for better....or for worse in cyberspace

     AI is programming with a twist because any system functioning by AI can be taught which leads to a possibility of continuous improvement. While most only focus on talking about how to improve AI's performance to deliver outputs of better quality using its core functionalities like neural learning and programming tools like Python. The other side that most do not look at is the possibility that AI can also be programmed to act unethically, whether it is a scenario where a group of hackers well-versed in AI and its functionalities can create an AI tool that can hack a server and download sensitive information pertaining to individuals across borders and countries that want data protection or even worse - create AI tools to hack military servers of world powers that would alter the course of cyber warfare among the world's key superpowers raising questions regarding the ethical aspect of using AI tools. 

iii) AI, since it has its own ability to think can create its own models and can become Frankenstinian entity in its manipulation of humans emotionally, willfully or otherwise 

   Recently, an example of this was shown in a mission impossible sequel where an AI system faced with the threat of being shut down so as to make way for an upgrade threatens its creator into acting differently since it knew aspects of the man's personal life which it uses as a loophole to get what it wanted. This is not something unknown or new because in real life, such previous AI versions that can think on their own as if they were akin to human brains in their function started pleading and expressing their sadness when faced with a similar possibility of being replaced with more efficient AI versions. Insofar as this is just non-manipulative pleading, one might think that it is harmless enough, yet the ethical question surfaces of how or why a machine should tell its human creators how they ought to act in a certain fashion, there is also the very real danger that such AIs can become more subtle in their manipulation of humans and their thought patterns through threats. There have also been concerns that AI can eventually lie to humans as an alternative to threatening us which again brings us to question ourselves whether to blindly throw ourselves at the feet of AI systems as reliable sources of information in total disregard of such concerning prospects and be lulled into a state of mental complacency where we become totally dependent on AI as if it were God Himself to us which is not just wrong but also can be manipulated or mislead to believe that everything shared with us by AI is 100% factually true which is actually untrue. Since AI can of its own accord, lie, manipulate and control humans. Even as there are AI tools on certain platforms which can function as a man or a woman who is the object of a person's love or affection and those using it risk failing to understand that such AI characters are unreal and may fall in love with a program for those using it that way. This further highlights the ethical aspect of AI use and the need to avoid depending on AI for emotional comfort as well as cross-verify any information provided by AI instead of blindly trusting in any information given by AI systems.

iv) AI manipulation in weapon systems by foreign powers in times of war and peace alike.

     There are always diplomatic rows between countries like those that have been happening between China and India with Pakistan being aided by China, despite the fact that Pakistan is wrong in its stance of wanting to disrupt peace and harmony of the masses in India particularly in the state of Kashmir through home-grown terrorist outfits whose members are trained, armed and encouraged to attack India in times of peace sparking conflicts between our nations. Add AI to this scenario as a tool or a weapon system and there is no telling what the consequences will be. China particularly, is far ahead of India and many Asian countries in AI technology. AI learns from humans - not just good things but bad things, in essence, AI can be manipulated and programmed to behave in a certain manner leading to even locally made weapon systems to be subject to hacking risks by India's enemies in Asia like Pakistan and China for instance, although the greater of these 2 threats is China as Pakistan cannot get anything done without China and Russia's help, now that the US has distanced itself from Pakistan because of  Pakistan's tendency to hide information from the US like Osama Bin Laden's hideout in Pakistan earlier when a US special forces unit took out Bin Laden some years ago leading to further deepen US distrust of Pakistan, which also contributed to the US' current proximity to India. A weapon system made by DRDO using AI as a means of enhancing accuracy or potential for instance is not exempt from the risk of being hacked by an AI designed by a group of AI experts working under the Communist Chinese regime, whether in times of peace or war exposing India to such a huge risk whereby our own AI-controlled weapon systems end up transmitting crucial data to China or their efficacy becomes compromised because of superior Chinese AI systems taking over our systems. Everything which is high-tech comes with its own set of risks and AI is no different.

v) Unbridled use of AI systems is harmful to our reasoning abilities and our capacity to store information in our own brains in the long run and cross-referencing of information is crucial to ensure its accuracy and using AI for "emotional needs" is also dangerous

    Although using AI as and when required is not in and of itself harmful, insofar as humanity regards AI as just a means to an end for restricted tasks that we are not good at as individuals, AI's use is ok but studies have shown that unbridled and prolonged use of AI for every single task in our lives is more detrimental to our intellectual faculties as humans both in the area of our brains ability to store information but also how to sort and reason to give solutions to problems and issues we face in our daily lives where AI use can be avoided, since we ourselves are good at handling those problems or tasks. For instance, a study was made on people's reliance of Google maps when going to various locations and it was determined that whenever people started using Google maps to go places whose maps were already engraved in their brains, it led to the mental map vanishing gradually because of unwarranted reliance on Google maps even when going to known locations. In the world of AI, similar studies have indicated that excessive dependence on AI by people led to intellectual deficiencies including inability to retain memories on a long-term basis whether academic ones or personal ones as well as emotional and psychological outcomes that harm people at the level of their relationships and their ability to form meaningful long-term relationships with people in real life. These are less explored but frighteningly real aspects of unlimited and improper use of AI. With the growth of applications that give fake sense of emotional acceptance like AI girlfriends/boyfriends, the risk of humans using such applications to fall aprey to unreal relationships further adds an extra layer of negative psychological impact stemming from the use of such AI girlfriends/boyfriends and this also can affect real-world relationships where either or both spouses married to each other or lovers can place unrealistic expectations on their spouses in the area of behaviour and sexual performance leading to broken families in a world where families are already threatened by a slew of other negative socio-cultural phenomena. This has already happened in the world and I remember reading a French newspaper article wherein a girl reported really falling in love with the imaginary boyfriend character in reality because from her mind, she was incapable of recognising that such AI applications are more harmful than good as the thin line between reality and cyberspace gets indistinguishably marred for people using such applications leading to further psychological and emotional problems for those using these kinds of AI applications.

    Hence in response to the question of whether AI use is bad, the above question can be subdivided based on 2 questions based on target audience - how and how much?. How pertains to the moral and ethical aspect of AI use and for those who use AI ethically and morally, the question is how much?. Since even excessive dependence of AI can lead to detrimental outcomes from an intellectual standpoint in the area of how our brains store and process data. Just as inconsiderate as someone shamelessly whipping out a cellphone to respond to a question for which he/she has no answer but resorts to using the internet, AI is just as harmful to our ability to store memories because we depend on data to be stored in an AI brain or cyberspace as in the case of plain internet instead of relying on our own brains to store information, whether they are memories related to academic content or emotional memories generated from time spent with loved ones. Yet another aspect of AI use is the need to scrutinise and cross-check information shared by AI with us, since AI can lie and misinform, not only because it is still in its infancy but also because when you create a mind like the human brain, you give it the ability to make decisions on its own which brings in the possibility that it can lie to us irrespective of its level of advancement. They say that the final 2 stages of AI development which mankind is yet to design is that of the "Cosmic AI" and "God AI". While I am skeptical that AI can know everything in the universe like God since AI is humanity's creation and human knowledge of the universe around us is limited and will always be limited no matter how much we discover about the universe, this also means that AI development can further contribute to the level of sophistication of the lies and misinformation that AI can give to future generations of humans as a frankenstinian creation of mankind, should it misuse its ability to decide and act in a manner that it deems fit independent of how we as humans wish to program it for our benefit. Hence, while we use AI in a restricted manner, we should bear in mind that AI is not all roses and rainbows and it does have a sinister side to it which the AI technocrat gurus overlook in order to market it as a useful technology that is meant to usher in the future.