By Paul Hubbard
Guest Column
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is one of the most discussed topics on most media platforms. This is why Black people need to understand it. This is a 2024 part of life.
There is great optimism and great fear about the proliferation of what this technology will bring us in the immediate and not so far future says Earle Charles in the Boule Journal. But the truth is this technology is not new. Artificial intelligence has roots going as far back as the ancient Greeks, where the myth of Talos give us an ancient conceptualization of automation and robotics.
Artificial Intelligence is the frontier of computer science, aiming to create systems that can perform tasks traditionally requiring human intelligence, with applications ranging from practical tools in today’s technological landscape to theoretical concepts that push the boundaries of what machines could achieve in the future, says Charles.
Not all AI is AI as we might perceive it. There are broadly three categories of AI:
1. Virtual personal assistants like Siri and Alexa to help make our lives easier when we ask for directions, when we desire to listen to a particular song. Netflix, Amazon, etc.
2. AI general intelligence where it conceptualizes that a machine can perform any intellectual task that a human can. For example, advance autonomous vehicles that can navigate environment without human input. Health systems that diagnose and recommend treatment for patient. Produce original music and art.
3. Super AI is a form that will surpass human intelligence including creativity, general wisdom and problem-solving skills. This is the one that created Frankenstein the monster.
The AI we know today is in manufacturing, health care, financial transactions in real time, transportation routes and car maintenace, agriculture with precision farming, advertising, energy, retail (Amazon), educational applications, social media (Facebook), insurance claims and cybersecurity in air traffic and home camaras.
Challenges and ethical considerations of AI, according to Charles in the Boule Journal, are: bias and decimation; privacy and data protection; employment disruption; accountability; safety and unintended consequences; Inequities.
There is no doubt that the productivity and other benefits many companies expect from AI are also the same reasons employees and job seekers see as a threat to finding or maintaining employment. In 2023 the Psychological Association said 38 percent of job seekers are worried about AI.
Paul L. Hubbard MSW, President Comfort Care Services.