Is Artificial Intelligence (AI)
A Threat To Humans?

© 2019 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
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IntroductionIntroduction
Are artificial intelligence (AI) and super-intelligent machines the best or worst thing that
could ever happen to humankind?
This has been a question in existence since the 1940s when computer scientist Alan
Turing wondered and began to believe that there would be a time when machines could
have an unlimited impact on humanity through a process that mimicked evolution.
Is Artificial Intelligence (AI)
A Threat To Humans?

© 2019 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
Title
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IntroductionIntroduction
When Oxford University Professor Nick Bostrom’s New York Times best-seller,
Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies was first published in 2014, it struck a nerve
at the heart of this debate with its focus on all the things that could go wrong. However,
in my recent conversation with Bostrom, he also acknowledged there’s an enormous
upside to artificial intelligence technology.
Is Artificial Intelligence (AI)
A Threat To Humans?

© 2019 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
Bostrom
Since the writing of Bostrom's book in 2014, progress has been very rapid in artificial
intelligence and machine and deep learning. Artificial intelligence is in the public
discourse, and most governments have some sort of strategy or road map to address AI.
In his book, he talked about AI being a little bit like children playing with a bomb that
could go off at any time.
Bostrom explained, "There's a mismatch between our level of maturity in terms of our
wisdom, our ability to cooperate as a species on the one hand and on the other hand our
instrumental ability to use technology to make big changes in the world. It seems like
we've grown stronger faster than we've grown wiser.“
There are all kinds of exciting AI tools and applications that are beginning to affect the
economy in many ways. These shouldn’t be overshadowed by the overhype on the
hypothetical future point where you get AIs with the same general learning and planning
abilities that humans have as well as super-intelligent machines. These are two different
contexts that require attention.

© 2019 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
How is AI dangerous?
Today, the more imminent threat isn't from a superintelligence, but the useful—yet
potentially dangerous—applications AI is used for presently.
If we focus on what’s possible today with AI, here are some of the potential negative
impacts of artificial intelligence that we should consider and plan for:
Change the jobs humans do/job automation: AI will change the workplace and the jobs
that humans do. Some jobs will be lost to AI technology, so humans will need to embrace
the change and find new activities that will provide them the social and mental benefits
their job provided.

© 2019 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
How is AI dangerous?
Political, legal, and social ramifications: As Bostrom advises, rather than avoid pursuing AI
innovation, "Our focus should be on putting ourselves in the best possible position so that
when all the pieces fall into place, we've done our homework. We've developed scalable AI
control methods, we've thought hard about the ethics and the governments, etc. And then
proceed further and then hopefully have an extremely good outcome from that." If our
governments and business institutions don't spend time now formulating rules,
regulations, and responsibilities, there could be significant negative ramifications as AI
continues
to mature.
AI-enabled terrorism: Artificial intelligence will change the way conflicts are fought from
autonomous drones, robotic swarms, and remote and nanorobot attacks. In addition to
being concerned with a nuclear arms race, we'll need to monitor the global autonomous
weapons race.

© 2019 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
How is AI dangerous?
Social manipulation and AI bias: So far, AI is still at risk for being biased by the humans
that build it. If there is bias in the data sets the AI is trained from, that bias will affect AI
action. In the wrong hands, AI can be used, as it was in the 2016 U.S. presidential election,
for social manipulation and to amplify misinformation.
AI surveillance: AI’s face recognition capabilities give us conveniences such as being able
to unlock phones and gain access to a building without keys, but it also launched what
many civil liberties groups believe is alarming surveillance of the public. In China and other
countries, the police and government are invading public privacy by using face
recognition technology. Bostrom explains that AI's ability to monitor the global
information systems from surveillance data, cameras, and mining social network
communication has great potential for good and
for bad.

© 2019 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
How is AI dangerous?
Deepfakes: AI technology makes it very easy to create "fake" videos of real people. These
can be used without an individual's permission to spread fake news, create porn in a
person's likeness who actually isn't acting in it, and more to not only damage an
individual's reputation but livelihood. The technology is getting so good the possibility for
people to be duped by it is high.
As Nick Bostrom explained, “The biggest threat is the longer-term problem introducing
something radical that’s super intelligent and failing to align it with human values and
intentions. This is a big technical problem. We’d succeed at solving the capability problem
before we succeed at solving the safety and alignment problem.”

© 2019 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
How is AI dangerous?
Today, Nick describes himself as a “frightful optimist” that is very excited about what AI
can do if we get it right. He said, “The near-term effects are just overwhelmingly positive.
The longer-term effect is more of an open question and is very hard to predict. If we do
our homework and the more we get our act together as a world and a species in whatever
time we have available, the better we are prepared for this, the better the odds for a
favorable outcome. In that case, it could be extremely favorable.”

© 2017 Bernard Marr , Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
© 2018 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
Bernard Marr is an internationally best-selling author, popular keynote speaker, futurist, and a
strategic business & technology advisor to governments and companies. He helps
organisations improve their business performance, use data more intelligently, and
understand the implications of new technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data,
blockchains, and the Internet of Things.
LinkedIn has ranked Bernard as one of the world’s top 5 business influencers. He is a frequent
contributor to the World Economic Forum and writes a regular column for Forbes. Every day
Bernard actively engages his 1.5 million social media followers and shares content that
reaches millions of readers.
Visit The
Website
© 2017 Bernard Marr , Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
© 2019 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
Bernard Marr is an internationally best-selling author, popular keynote speaker, futurist, and a
strategic business & technology advisor to governments and companies. He helps
organisations improve their business performance, use data more intelligently, and
understand the implications of new technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data,
blockchains, and the Internet of Things.
LinkedIn has ranked Bernard as one of the world’s top 5 business influencers. He is a frequent
contributor to the World Economic Forum and writes a regular column for Forbes. Every day
Bernard actively engages his 1.5 million social media followers and shares content that
reaches millions of readers.
Visit The
Website

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© 2018 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved

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