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The Great AI Debate: The Pros and Cons of Artificial Intelligence

Imagine the universe. Such a vast dark space is composed of hundreds of galaxies. To conquer such a frontier would take ages, if at all. Yes, the landing on the moon was a great start. So is the project on space travel to Mars. But all that are baby steps compared to the greatest frontier of all, our universe. What will it take for a man to reach the ends of the known universe? And if we’re to undertake it, how many lives will probably be lost? Indeed, the chances are really slim. But with the help of Artificial Intelligence or AI, those chances grow bigger. On the other end of the spectrum, AI could be more of a burden than a solution. Hollywood blockbuster movie starring Will Smith, I, Robot, may have summed it all up. We could be putting out something that will have the capacity to replace humanity itself. The object that man designed to “think” may outthink him. All this may sound like child’s play. But AI is coming. Man sure needs to take a long hard look at it. To boot, no less than two of the richest men on the planet are taking sides. Elon Musk, Tesla and SpaceX CEO, speaks of the doom that is AI while Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg best to disagree.

The Case for Elon Musk

In his disclosure to the National Governor’s Association, Elon Musk made clear that AI can pose “a fundamental risk to the existence of human civilization.” That sure sounds shocking. For someone who is at the forefront of technology perched successfully, Musk looks like he’s supposed to say the opposite. To note, Elon’s SpaceX company is a major contractor to NASA for space exploration. One of its major tasks is to devise a lunar-optimized space ship that would transport crew in lunar orbit to the moon and back. It’s definitely state-of-the-art. Added to that, Elon is an engineer at heart. He makes and breaks things. Microsoft founder and tech legend Bill Gates described him (compared to the late Steve Jobs), “Elon’s more of a hands-on engineer. Steve was a genius at design, picking people, and marketing. You wouldn’t walk into a room and confuse them with each other.” Indeed, machine learning isn’t a refined science. Some of the things that go against machine learning are that it really can’t replicate humans. AI would have no emotions. That means it won’t be able to determine what is right or wrong. It just bases everything on its program. That can certainly become problematic when it encounters experiences not prescribed in its code. And that means AI can’t be creative. It can’t produce ideas out of the blue. In short, it can’t think as a human does. Lastly, robots that think can mean lots of unemployed people. Imagine if all cars were self-driven, then all chauffeurs and taxi drivers will lose their jobs.

The Case for Mark Zuckerberg

facebook concept Even renowned scientist Stephen Hawking is critical of AI saying it could prove to be mankind’s “worst event”. But Mark Zuckerberg would have none of it. Parrying the words of his tech contemporary, the Facebook founder such doomsday talks about AI is “pretty irresponsible.” And he could be right. Artificial Intelligence, also dubbed as machine learning, has lots of benefits to put on humanity’s table. Imagine intelligent robots in the production line. Top industrial automation companies such as employing AI tech would have greater functionality at hand. In effect, that can truly revolutionize the manufacturing process. A great advantage for AI would be the reduction of human errors. That can mean a lot of unnecessary errors taken out of the picture. Imagine a self-driving car and compare that to a human driver. A human driver can get drunk. Worse, a human on the wheel means a lot of human errors. National Highway Traffic Safety determined that most of the road crashes in 2016 are due to human error. That means most of the 37,000 deaths due to those accidents could have been avoided. Additionally, AI can go where humans can’t. These machines won’t get tired and will never get shaken by danger. This is the reason why AI robots are used in fuel exploration. Additionally, these machines are sent to the ocean floor to explore marine ecology. That task would prove impossible for a human. Artificial Intelligence offers greater functionality for humanity. These machines can go where no man can. The only question is how to control such a kind of power. ; For that to be answered, humanity must act as one. And that can mean we could be closer to the answer if the best and the brightest work as one. And that should include Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg working together towards a common goal. That will be the day.
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