7 Biggest Dangers of AI and their Solutions

What is AI? Is AI a blessing or curse? Can AI replace our jobs? Is AI harmful to society? How will AI impact our lives? These are a few questions people have regarding AI and its applications.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is the capacity of a computer or a robot controlled by a computer to carry out tasks that are typically performed by humans.

If you ask ordinary people about AI, most will say, so far, so good. But many experts think otherwise. In fact, according to Stephen Hawking, AI could spell the end of the human race. 

Those closely monitoring AI and many other technologies think that AI is one of the biggest threats to society. In this article, we will explore the real dangers of AI and how it can harm people.

Potential Risks of AI for Society

It is clear that artificial intelligence is imposing a lot of dangers on society in many ways, but what are those dangers? Let’s have a look at them!

1. Pose Threats to Academic Integrity

AI and AI-written content is creating a lot of challenges for academia. Many students have started using AI for writing assignments, projects, research articles, etc. They don’t put their own effort into research, learn anything from the process, and contribute to knowledge. Instead, they only learn how to cheat and deceive their teachers.

Moreover, the practice of using AI for assignments or project writing is imposing threats to academic integrity. The four central values are academic integrity, trust, fairness, honesty, and responsibility. And using AI for academic content creation undermines all of them. So, that’s why the academic circle is worried about it.

According to the National Education Association, about 25% of teachers have caught students using AI chatbots. As a result, many institutes worldwide have blocked access to ChatGPT and other AI-language model tools.

Solution

There are three possible solutions to the problem. 

First Possibility

Teachers should always perform plagiarism check to locate all the instances of duplication in the assignments and research articles. It can help them ensure the content is original. In case they find any plagiarism, they should call students for an explanation, and if they fail to explain, they must take serious action against cheaters.

Second Possibility 

Secondly, Students should use different tools to make their content free from all sorts of errors i.e. spelling punctuation, and grammar. Teachers should ban the usage of AI chatbots and force students to do research from authentic and credible sources, like books and research journals. That’s how they can strengthen the research culture and refrain students from using AI tools.

Third Possibility

Lastly, they can also get some assistance from a text rephraser to enhance their content and make it more impactful.

2. Spread Misinformation

Many people think that AI tools, especially ChatGPT and Bard, are excellent sources of information. However, they are not. If you ask any of these tools, they themselves admit that they are not reliable at all. 

These tools can turn out to be the most effective tools for propaganda and misinformation. However, those using and relying on them may fall into false propaganda and spread misinformation to others.

Let’s take an example to learn the severity of the issue. Many website content writers have already started using these tools for writing website articles. They create content from them, optimize them according to their needs and publish them without checking facts from reliable sources.

Many don’t tell their readers that AI tools have written these articles or blogs. So their readers believe them as they think those articles are written by the original author. And they also believe that the authors have done the required research to write those articles. So it can ultimately spread misinformation that can harm the person, their community, or the whole society.

AI tools can also be biased. So, those who are controlling them can control public perception and escalate their own propaganda. It is also a main and big disadvantage of AI.

Solution

People must not believe every word they read online, especially on AI tools. Instead, they should only use reliable sources of information, quoting from where they have collected all the data and which particular means they have used for that. That’s the only way to avoid falling into AI’s information trap.

3. Create Unemployment

Yes, AI can contribute to unemployment. Many AI tools are very quick, efficient, and sophisticated; they can perform many tasks that humans do. For instance, AI chatbots like ChatGPT and Bard can write content within a few moments. Moreover, those who learn to use them can get any content from them. Regardless of their accuracy and reliability, they can provide content having all the other qualities that people want.

Apart from language models, many tools like MidJourney and Dall-E 2 can design digital images within a few moments. The list of online AI tools goes on. In short, AI can replace a lot of jobs, including customer service representatives, digital marketers, writers, designers, proofreaders, etc.

So, you may see many people become jobless within the next few years. Even many skilled people may also lose their jobs because of AI.  

Solution

Although there is no solution to the issue, AI will definitely replace jobs. To counter it, people have to learn using AI tools. That’s why they can secure their jobs and generate more revenue compared to the past. For instance, you should learn to use AI digital marketing tools if you are a digital marketer. That’s how you incorporate your knowledge and AI tools to become more efficient in the work and secure your job.

4. Financial Crisis

At a conference, SEC (Security and Exchange Commission) chairperson Mr. Gary Gensler expressed his thoughts about AI and the financial crisis. According to him, AI can make future economic systems more fragile. Like him, many other experts have also expressed their thoughts about the threats that AI is imposing on financial systems.

The biggest reason many experts think that AI will create a financial crisis is its ability to replace jobs. When many people go jobless, they will put an extra burden on countries’ economies. Moreover, it will also directly reduce consumption. Although AI can enhance productivity, when people won’t have enough money to buy different goods and services, who will purchase the products or services? Consequently, it may reduce the production of goods.

Moreover, AI can also create a financial imbalance. According to a report by the IMF, AI can widen the gap between rich and poor countries. Furthermore, the report also suggested that the investment will flow toward developed countries which could put more pressure on developing countries’ GDP.

Solution

The AI revolution or financial crisis, whatever you call it, is already knocking on the door. Governments and economic institutions should pay attention to it, invest in future technologies, and educate people about it. They must also invest in skill development programs to help ordinary people learn more about these technologies and their utilization. That’s how they can save their jobs and perfectly utilize the technology in their favor instead of going jobless.

5. Ignite Arm Race

The debate about the AI arms race has already started. Almost every prominent news journal has talked about it recently. All of them are worried that it will ignite a new race between the biggest powers in the world, especially the United States and China.

According to the Japan Times, China is already investing a lot in AI to lead the race. President Xi Jinping has stressed the development of AI and intelligent warfare. In addition, Beijing has already started working on defense innovations to take the lead in the modern arms race.

Moreover, China is producing more AI scientists than any other country. It has also hosted nine of ten world’s top institutions publishing AI-related research papers.

However, the United States is silent on the issue. As China is imposing threats to its supremacy, the U.S. is also working to develop AI-based defense systems. It indicates that both these countries are going into a new arms race that could be very dangerous for the entire planet.

Solution

There is only one solution to the issue; world organizations step into the matter and force countries to focus on human development instead of developing weapons of mass destruction. However, many believe that even if the organizations do this, they will continue as they want to claim power in different regions of the world and show dominance. Unfortunately, if it happens, it will be destructive for people and the whole world.

6. Making People Dull

Technology is making people dull. As we all know that AI is very sophisticated and efficient, so many who use AI to perform their daily routine tasks aren't satisfied with its results. So although it is great that people are saving time, AI is also making them dull as they are not learning anything from the process. 

In fact, they don’t want to learn as they think there is no need for that. So when AI is there, they don’t need to learn anything. That’s why you would have seen that most people who use AI are productive but have less technical knowledge. For instance, many new bloggers who generate content through AI, their blogs, and other articles are worth reading. However, bloggers cannot write a few sentences without AI.

Solution

AI is an excellent technology as it helps people in their tasks. However, without natural intelligence, AI won’t help people a lot. So, people must expand their knowledge, learn different things related to their industry, and then incorporate their acquired knowledge with AI. That’s how they can become more productive and perfectly utilize artificial intelligence.

Otherwise, they may perform various tasks but not know how they have done. Moreover, they won’t be able to explain or perform those tasks themselves. So ultimately, AI could take their jobs. And they may have nothing except regret.

7. Social Engineering and Manipulation

As AI is getting mature, the risks associated with this technology are also enhancing. For example, AI systems and tools can increase social engineering and manipulation. 

Users and scammers can use AI tools to create deep fake technology to create fake audio, images, and videos to manipulate others and defame real people. These deep fake tapes and audio can encourage people to take specific actions by believing in the words of the person they admire. Ultimately, people can use deep fakes to con others.

Similarly, as everyone’s data is readily available on the internet, scammers can also use it to create personalized messages using AI tools and encourage them to take actions that could be harmful to them. People can also develop chatbots that behave like humans and spread false information to incite people and spread propaganda.

Even marketers can use AI technology to create personalized marketing strategies to manipulate consumer behavior, opinion, and attitude toward their or their competitors’ brands.

Lastly, those owning big AI-language models can spread their own propaganda amongst the masses. Many have already started believing the big chatbots, including ChatGPT and Bard. Those holding these platforms can control users’ minds and provide the information they want. That’s how they can easily let people believe what the owners want.

Solution

Users must be skeptical about everything they read online. They must realize that AI can control their minds and encourage them to take actions that aren’t helpful for them in any way. So, they must avoid believing them and use their knowledge to protect themselves against false propaganda techniques.

Conclusion

AI is undoubtedly a great technology that provides a plethora of benefits to users. However, if not appropriately used, it can be a risk for society. For instance, it can dent academic integrity, spread misinformation, enhance unemployment, create a financial crisis, instigate an arms race, dull people, and manipulate public opinion. 

In order to control AI, world organizations and governments must take action and force people to use this technology for positive usage. Otherwise, the results of AI could be destructive.