Fear mongering distracts from crux of AI use - data dependence

ARTIFICIAL Intelligence (AI) has captured the popular imagination and given rise to extreme hopes as well as utmost scepticism - AI is either the panacea for human civilisation or it will be the cause of its destruction.

The power of AI calls for debate on its ethical as well as practical use and the discussion should include possible negative effects. However, dwelling too much on doomsday scenarios is counterproductive as it blindsides us from the real problems that are creating barriers of entry to the use of AI to solve problems. Take the case of a report released last week by a Dutch NGO. It claimed that some of the world's leading technology companies are fuelling a global AI arms race that could eventually result in killer robots and autonomous AI programs that could take down targets without human intervention.

Now, alarmist predictions about rogue AI programs are nothing new; even luminaries such as the late Stephen Hawking and Elon Musk have warned about potential catastrophe due to the extensive use of AI. But what should be apparent is that it is not necessarily the technology itself that is evil or harmful. It is its misuse by humans that makes it dangerous, and while the technology can be removed, the human element cannot, and there will always be other ways to cause harm. Consider, for instance, the famous first flight by the Wright Brothers in the early years of the 20th century. That epoch-making flight paved the way for today's ubiquitous air travel which has transformed the world into a global village and resulted in unprecedented prosperity. At the same time, today's ultra-lethal military aircraft, which can flatten half a city from the air, also grew from that historic flight by the Wright Brothers.