Artificial Intelligence or AI is everywhere. You hear and see the word AI almost every single day. From mundane tasks to the creative, the list of things the power of AI can do goes on and on, and is too big for even me to comprehend. It’s quite fascinating actually, human made software mimicking human behavior. It invokes an image of a dystopian future, but what it brings in actuality is yet to be seen.
The evolution of AI far exceeds a single sector, industry of even medium. The idea of intelligent machines started way back in the 1950’s and it is believed to have not yet fully blossomed. But over the past couple of years AI has quickly picked up steam and has seen mainstream acceptance. AI has shown its competence in mundane tasks such as AI traffic cameras, support bots, recommendation, monitoring system, but more interestingly shown extraordinary abilities in creative ones like animation, art, voice acting and more. Un-surprisingly it has also been an area of concern among different professions, especially the creative one that outright opposes AI generated media, questioning the legal and humane aspect of it as a whole.
I believe AI will change many things, but it will not replace everyone out right. Just like when the Internet went mainstream and many lost their jobs in sectors like, post offices, physical paper printing, and many other middle men. It also gave rise to many such jobs alike on the internet. Likewise, I believe the change AI is about to unleash will certainly shake certain sectors, maybe even destroy a few, but it will also give rise to many other undiscovered opportunities. Is this good or bad? Legal or illegal? Humane or inhumane? Is something to debate over.
AI is inevitable. Speaking against the evolution of AI is futile, just as it was like speaking against the widespread adoption of the internet back in the day. But what can be done is the proper legislation against its use. Creating false identities, misusing photos of people, unauthorized use of art, voice samples and more to create models (datasets), are some areas that need proper attention as this phase of its evolution, so that those involved are properly compensated. I also like to believe, just as we still paint when we could just take a picture, I’m certain we will still do these creative actions when there is an alternative, but to what extend is still to be seen. Nonetheless, I’m certain its ripples will be far greater than the Internet.
