Lately, technological advances have been at the forefront of our conversations, with Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the spotlight. Many people see AI as a way to make our lives easier, ensure effectiveness in our work, and potentially cure illnesses. Others see it as a way to make us more addicted to our phones and lose touch with reality. Ultimately, people have questioned whether or not AI is “playing God.”
According to Tech Target, a technological marketing company, AI is defined as “the simulation of human intelligence processes by machines, especially computer systems.” AI systems work by ingesting large amounts of data, finding correlations and patterns in that data, and then making predictions from these patterns. In many instances, AI can generate information better than humans can. AI is found in social media, digital assistants, banking, and even healthcare.
Some advantages of AI include reduced time needed for data-heavy tasks, consistent results, and efficiency in detail-oriented jobs. It can diagnose diseases, detect fraud, translate languages, and personalize each individual person’s content. Rhoda Sarpong (sophomore, computer engineering), believes AI to be a good thing. She says that AI is the future and “it’s not anything new. It’s gathering information and sorting it. Soon, even more things are going to advance and we need to be ready.” Changes in technology have been very consistent lately, giving us multiple updates and assistance. Just like Rhoda, many people see AI as a convenient resource, but many others don’t.
One concern people have about AI is that it is taking jobs away from some people because, as mentioned before, it can do many tasks better than humans can. There will no longer be as much of a need for customer service representatives or accountants if AI can do it all. There is also a concern that AI will reduce (or greatly surpass) the IQs of humans. Having technology that can do almost anything for you may cause people to lose sight of their own capabilities. It has been proposed that AI be used in moderation, so that humans are still in charge of everyday tasks. Riley Logan, a recent graduate with a degree in psychology, believes that “AI can be useful in some capacities, but it needs its limitations or it will be our downfall.”
To the question of whether or not AI is “playing God,” some might argue no, because of it being a great help in our everyday lives, while others might completely disagree, not only because of AI’s human-like attributes and self-awareness, but also because of how dependent we as humans have become on it. Then, there are those who don’t even truly understand what AI is and are struggling to keep up with our ever-changing technologies.
At this point in time, it is up to each individual person to decide their view on AI, given that there is still so much more it can advance to in the future. Who knows? We could all end up changing how we feel about it over the next few years. We’ll just have to wait and see what the future holds.
The Student Movement is the official student newspaper of Andrews University. Opinions expressed in the Student Movement are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors, Andrews University or the Seventh-day Adventist church.