Have we finally reached the time where our world resembles movies? Where robots take over the world and destroy the human race, like in The Terminator and M3gan? No, I do not think we have reached that point just yet. We can take comfort in the fact that these movies are still far away from being representative of the near future. Some of the effects that Artificial Intelligence will bring to our world will even be beneficial to us. However, without any regulation, the dangers will outweigh the positive effects of AI.

First off, let’s define what Artificial Intelligence is. IBM defines it as technology that allows for computers or machines to be able to simulate human learning, comprehension, problem solving, and decision making. Basically, it grants computers the ability to work on their own and be less reliant on human command. We can see this in the ability of AI softwares like ChatGPT to answer questions that are asked of it, such as historical facts and math problems. It can produce code almost as good as humans and help you with homework at an alarmingly accurate rate.

History of AI

While the emergence of AI is relatively recent, the concept of it was thought of decades ago. In 1950, the first piece of AI technology was created by Claude Shannon: a remote-controlled mouse that navigated through a maze and then remembered the exact course it took. This definitely is not anywhere near what we think of today when we hear the term Artificial Intelligence. However, this was coming at a time when the first digital computers were just manufactured a few years prior. Being able to produce this new type of device with its own memory was a huge breakthrough at the time.

Fast forward a few years later, and Perception Mark 1 was created. This machine had the capability to distinguish cards marked on the right side versus on the left side. Then, about 40 years later, TD-Gammon, which is a software that is able to play backgammon at a level just below that of the top players in the world, was created. Consider how mind-blowing it was, especially at a time when technology was much less advanced than it is today, to have a non-human machine that was able to play a human game at a level better than most people. Some people might have believed that this was exciting for the future of technology; others may have worried that it was going to end up hurting human jobs.

In the 2010s, Alexnet was produced, and we started to get closer to the level of AI our world has today. Alexnet was a neural network that was able to recognize images of objects.

In this Our World in Data article, a chart is displayed showing increasing test scores that Artificial Intelligence technologies received in several human comprehension categories. In just 10 short years, AI has gone from receiving language or image recognition scores far below human levels to outperforming humans.

Today, we are at a point where Artificial Intelligence is everywhere. It is easily accessible on website browsers and on the internet. AI is on websites, providing you with how much you have to pay for an airline ticket, whether you qualify for a loan, and many other services. There are also websites like ChatGpt where you can ask questions about almost anything and receive an answer. These websites can even give you rankings of topics, such as sports players or your favorite artist’s albums. While the answers aren’t always correct, they often are. Also, AI software has the capability to create images from almost any prompt you give it. It is able to do this in a matter of seconds. We must also consider that softwares like ChatGPT and Meta AI are just early versions of this type of AI, and they are only going to be able to get better.

Negative Impact of AI

If you have followed the news in any capacity, or even just interacted with companies, you know that Artificial Intelligence is beginning to have the capability to complete different kinds of jobs. People have already started to notice these changes. In what Forbes is calling the “Doom Loop”, people are starting to feel anxious about whether they are going to lose their jobs in the future to AI.

According to the World Economic Forum, careers that are going to be most negatively affected include bank tellers, clerks, cashiers, and secretaries. The jobs included are a lot of occupations that people without college degrees rely on to be able to afford to live. Even with a college degree, these jobs are steady entry-level positions that people rely on. In 2022, Pew Research Center estimated that around 19% of workers in the United States have jobs that are the most vulnerable to being lost to AI. As time goes on and the abilities of AI increase, this percentage will only go up.

This isn’t to say that these lower-skilled jobs are the only ones being affected by the surge in AI’s skills. Forbes also states that “we’re seeing it more and more in occupational job postings, such as research and development, media and communications, art, banking, and architecture.” Many people most likely only associate the threat of AI with jobs in the tech sector or the lower-skilled positions discussed earlier. However, many everyday jobs are threatened by technological advancements. It’s important for everyone, but especially younger people, to keep watch of the effects the advancement of AI will have on the job market. Today, even if the government begins to regulate it, we are going to have to start adapting to the development of AI. This can be via a multitude of things including earning degrees that lead to careers less impacted by AI, or learning AI-related skills.

Another one of the major problems with AI is the ability to create “deepfakes.” The definition of a deepfake is an “artificial image or video (a series of images) generated by a special kind of machine learning…”  Some of the most popular types of deepfakes currently circulating the internet are ones where fake pictures go around social media to convey some kind of message and ones where people’s voices are recreated in order to trick you into believing the message is actually coming from that person.

Deepfake images allow for people to create misleading photos that do not actually exist. Examples of negative usage of deepfake technology include the ability to create an image of someone committing a crime or having an affair. From what I have seen, deepfake photos so far are easy to point out as long as you have somewhat of a familiarity with the internet and pay attention to details that look off. That said, AI is getting more advanced every day and it won’t be too long before the photos start getting harder and harder to identify.

Also, today’s deepfakes can still trick people in more technologically vulnerable communities, such as the elderly community. Since older people have not been on the internet as long or as much as people from younger generations, they aren’t as familiar with the current tricks and scams that are circulating the internet. This means that they aren’t able to adapt and figure out what they should believe and what they shouldn’t. They are more likely to believe what they see and maybe even spread it around as misinformation to other people.

Photos aren’t the only type of deepfake, though; there are also people recreating others’ voices.

Deepfakes that are able to recreate voices might just be the most dangerous ones currently being distributed. One of the most popular scams is making a voice that sounds like a relative of yours and making it sound like they are in the middle of an emergency. That person will most likely ask you for important information, such as banking information or to wire them money. Attacks like this are often targeted at people of an older generation. This is because older people are a lot less tech savvy, causing them to also not know enough to decipher that the “person” they are talking to is not actually who they think it is. According to the Los Angeles Times, these softwares can also be used in real time, meaning that the scammers can perform these over the phone or during virtual meetings. Not only is this technology already extremely advanced, but it is also only going to get better as time goes on.

AI-generated voice attacks aren’t only targeted toward the elderly, though. Political elections have also been a target of the threat of these deepfake attacks. For example, in January of this year, there was a fake robocall using a Joe Biden voice telling voters that were going to vote in the New Hampshire primary to save their vote until November and not vote in that primary. This scam was an attempt to take votes away from Joe Biden and hopefully hurt his chances of becoming the Democratic nominee in the 2024 presidential election. This is just one example of how AI can be used to spread misinformation pertaining to elections.

 With the emergence and advancement of ChatGPT, people have begun to use it to look up information and have it explain it back to them. With a lot of people not being too interested in doing their own extensive research on who to vote for, many will turn to ChatGPT to have the information spit back at them. While AI has become very intelligent, it still can be wrong. It’s based off of other internet sources and can choose from one with misinformation of any kind and voters that are relying on these sites are going to be fed false information. This is why it is crucial that we begin to regulate the negative effects of AI before it is too late.

Positive Impact of AI

While there are very important negative impacts that AI can have on our future, it isn’t all bad. On the surface level, AI is a technological advancement that was created to improve society.

On one hand, AI is going to replace jobs in the economy; but on the other hand, it is going to help to create new jobs. According to the World Economic Forum, jobs that specialize in AI and machine learning will increase by 40% by 2027, data analyst and data scientist jobs will see around a 35% increase, and there will be a 31% increase for jobs in the information security sector. While CEOs are going to want to incorporate AI into their companies to be able to run more efficiently, they will need people to help with the software running smoothly. As a result, jobs will be created to help keep up. People will still have to adapt and develop skills to be able to work with AI for some of these jobs, but resources for that will become more accessible as time goes on. However, these jobs are really only for people with some sort of higher education, so the problem of AI taking away jobs for people with less education remains unaddressed.

AI is also going to be a huge component in the health of our friends and family. Every year, we lose so many people to diseases such as cancer, especially when it is not diagnosed early. In 2022, over 608,000 people died of cancer. Luckily for our future, AI can begin to help cut down on those numbers. When it comes to diagnosing a patient, doctors have to sort through  the patient’s history, clinical trial results, and many more records. AI technology will hopefully be able to take all of those records and give a much quicker analysis and diagnosis to the patient. For a disease like cancer, we all know that any extra time to start treatment can be the difference between life and death. AI can be a revolutionary breakthrough that saves family members, friends, and other people in our communities.

Another possible advancement from AI related to human health is the ability to be your own personal health coach. Especially as an adult with many different responsibilities, it can be hard to keep up with healthy habits. Some people have the money to hire a personal chef or a personal coach, but most can’t afford them. AI is aiming to help with this. With some given information, the AI health coach could give you reminders to take medications for your chronic disease, go on a walk with your significant other during a break, give you healthy options to eat, and much more. Currently, the most you’re getting in regards to reminders are some generic email from your doctor every once in a while. Now, you would have technology that acts like an in-house coach to help you keep up with healthy habits. Not only can this be life-saving for people with chronic diseases, but it is also crucial for any adult to live a longer life. The more that we are investing into our bodies everyday, the longer our bodies will be able to sustain themselves and also help to prevent you getting any diseases.

That said, the positives don’t really outweigh the negatives. The jobs that are going to be taken away are extremely important in the economy, as they provide a career path for people that don’t have a higher education. While college has become a lot more accessible over the years, not everyone can go to college or wants to. It is important to support all American citizens and protect their jobs. Also, deepfakes are only going to get more and more dangerous as they rapidly improve. They will divide us through misinformation and will steal people's information and put them in harm’s way. Without regulation, the positives will not be worth the negatives.

necessary government regulation

If we wish to control the negative effects of Artificial Intelligence while also using all of the positive attributes, the government will need to step in and regulate its usage. I think it is important to discuss both of the major parties’ leaders’ history with AI so that we can get insight into what future government regulations will look like.

Former Republican President Donald Trump passed two executive orders that deal with AI during his first term in office. His first order, issued in 2019 and named “Maintaining American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence,” focused on establishing people’s right of privacy against AI and also expanded AI research and development. His second executive order, issued in 2020, focused on transparency while also stating that government agencies need to have a way to shut down their AI software if they begin to stray away from doing what they were intended to do. Most of his current plans seem to be rooted in expanding innovation rather than safety. To be fair, though, AI wasn’t as powerful during his administration as it is today.

For the Democratic Party, President Biden has passed one executive order dealing with AI so far during his administration. His order was heavily based on the safety of AI. Issued in 2023, it created requirements for government agencies’ use of AI. These requirements include provisions like requiring developers to share their safety test results with the government, develop tools to protect against AI, and a lot more. It also created a program called the National AI Research Resource, which helps support Americans who study or develop AI. Currently, it is just a two-year pilot.

Political parties have also clashed over AI. Republican Vice President-elect JD Vance believes that AI softwares, such as ChatGPT, are biased against Republicans. Studies have contradicted this, finding that AI replies on political questions tend to be centrist or moderately left-leaning. The Harris campaign stood out in the fact that she pledged to use no AI generated images in her campaign. The Trump-Vance ticket has used fake, AI-generated photos on social media platforms such as X (Twitter) and Truth Social.

It is important that the government protects our future, whether that means the safety of our careers or from ourselves. However, AI is going to make them have to care about us, at least from an economic perspective. Many people are terrified that their jobs are going to be outsourced to Artificial Intelligence, and rightfully so. That said, the United States government will not be able to sit by and allow millions of jobs to be taken away. If they allow anything close to that number of people to lose their jobs, the American people will be extremely unhappy and there would be serious consequences to the future of the country. It is time that we take an active approach in making sure that Artificial Intelligence is being used to help our future and make us a better society, rather than hurting the citizens that have made it possible to have these advancements and possibilities for a better future.