To shed light on the potential risks of Artificial Intelligence, we’ve gathered insights from twelve experts, including Technology Editors and CEOs. From the trust issues in AI expert opinions to potential privacy breaches in AI data collection, these professionals provide a comprehensive view of the challenges we may face in the AI era.
- Trust Issues in AI Expert Opinions
- Potential Misuse of AI Systems
- Risk of Losing Human Touch
- AI Misuse for Harmful Purposes
- AI’s Impact on Critical Thinking
- AI’s Limitations in Fact-Checking
- Complacency Risk in AI Dependence
- AI’s “Black Box” Transparency Issue
- Unpredictability of AI in SEO
- Job Displacement Risk Due to AI
- Inherent Bias Risk in AI
- Potential Privacy Breaches in AI Data Collection
Trust Issues in AI Expert Opinions
Trust issues are developing with the progression of artificial intelligence, even in the process of providing expert opinions for journalists. Most journalists are now demanding that no ChatGPT answers be supplied. This suggests some experts are trying to skip around actually giving their expert opinions and making a machine do it, thus taking away the expertise they are supposed to be offering.
This can make anybody requesting writing from someone instantly more skeptical about the work they are reading, whether it is a manager at work, the editor of the paper, a teacher reading essays, or a journalist looking for an expert quote.
There is almost a need to catch up with finding a system that can identify these cheats so that trust can be rebuilt in what is being seen, because even with this quote, the person reading it might now think, “Is this written by AI?”
Bobby Lawson, Technology Editor/Publisher, Earth Web
Potential Misuse of AI Systems
One concern that I harbor is the potential for AI systems to be used irresponsibly or maliciously. A poorly designed or misused AI can lead to harm, whether through bias in decision-making processes or misuse in areas such as deepfakes. Ensuring ethical, fair, and safe use of AI is a pressing responsibility that we cannot afford to overlook.
Ranee Zhang, VP of Growth, Airgram
Risk of Losing Human Touch
One significant risk in the exciting journey of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is losing the personal touch. While AI helps us do things faster and better, the human side of things, its creativity, should not be forgotten.
As a CTO with experience in technology development, it’s acknowledged that AI can improve workplaces. However, the importance of maintaining a strong human connection is also recognized. Balancing AI’s power with human empathy and creativity is crucial. This balance ensures that our technology assists people in the best possible way.
Anjan Pathak, CTO and Co-Founder, Vantage Circle
AI Misuse for Harmful Purposes
Artificial Intelligence (AI) poses a significant risk because of its potential for misuse and abuse. When in the wrong hands, AI can be weaponized for nefarious purposes, including the spread of misinformation, cyber-attacks, and invasive surveillance.
To mitigate these risks, establishing robust legal frameworks and adhering to strong ethical guidelines becomes paramount. Such measures ensure responsible and ethical utilization of AI technology.
Khurram Mir, Founder and Chief Marketing Officer, Kualitatem, Kualitatem Inc.
AI’s Impact on Critical Thinking
I love technology, and I acknowledge the advantages it brings. But that doesn’t mean we should ignore the cons. It’s hard to say what the future will look like once AI takes over more jobs. I’m sure we will adapt, and new jobs nobody thinks about today will appear almost out of nowhere. That’s not my concern now.
What I’m worried about is our ability to do critical thinking. Mind you, this is already happening to some degree. The traditional press lost the war on information the moment it started using clickbait titles. Now, people are getting their news from social media, and we all know how this turned out.
Imagine this: instead of scrolling through our news feed and trying to figure out what’s real and what’s not, we will progressively start relying on AI to do the filtering, analyzing, and summarizing for us. What if the current AI doesn’t get any better with hallucination, improvising, or if the database the AI is learning from is riddled with fake news or propaganda?
Ionut-Alexandru Popa, Editor-in-Chief and CEO, JPG MEDIA SRL
AI’s Limitations in Fact-Checking
I’ve used AI tools like ChatGPT and Bard for various tasks, including asking AI to fact-check my written article after I’m done. Interestingly, AI offered opposing statements, saying something in my article was true while also saying it was false. Even when doing your assumed due diligence by fact-checking your work, it’s easy to miss certain details. If I had published this article based on AI’s findings alone, I would have spread misinformation to my clients’ readers.
It’s essential to use AI as a tool and not as a complete content creator. The responsibility of producing high-quality content still falls on human creators—AI alone isn’t strong enough to do it all just yet.
Alli Hill, Founder and Director, Fleurish Freelance
Complacency Risk in AI Dependence
Complacency is one of the biggest risks of artificial intelligence. Given the current state of publicly available models, the output still needs to be checked and tweaked for accuracy. If that step isn’t taken, we’re going to end up with a flood of content that has no character, answers that aren’t quite right, and code output that doesn’t exactly meet requirements.
That’s not to say that using AI makes you complacent. It’s insanely efficient and helps increase productivity! We just need to apply the principles of “trust, but verify” to AI output. AI should enhance and reduce the existing work, not be used as a form of hands-off outsourcing.
Blake Burch, Co-Founder and CEO, Shipyard
AI’s “Black Box” Transparency Issue
Currently, AI systems can make decisions or recommendations without providing clear explanations for their reasoning.
This is concerning because when there is a lack of transparency, known as the “black box” problem, critical applications like healthcare and autonomous vehicles can lead to dangerous consequences. Imagine what happens if the AI makes a mistake or produces unexpected results. How can we understand the reasoning behind it? Such issues could lead to a lack of trust and the impossibility of improving the system.
Cristina Imre, Executive Coach and Business Strategist for Tech Founders, CEOs and Entrepreneurs, Quantum Wins
Unpredictability of AI in SEO
One potential risk of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the context of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the unpredictability of algorithm changes. As search engines increasingly use AI to refine their algorithms, the criteria for search rankings can shift suddenly and without explicit notice.
This could lead to a significant drop in a website’s ranking and a subsequent decrease in organic traffic. Furthermore, as AI improves its ability to comprehend natural language, it may devalue traditional keyword-optimization strategies, making it harder for websites to maintain their visibility and ranking in search engine results.
Jaya Iyer, Marketing Assistant, Teranga Digital Marketing
Job Displacement Risk Due to AI
The biggest risk is job displacement of largely manual roles, and even some knowledge work. It’s important to learn how to adapt with it and how to leverage it to your advantage.
For instance, we use an AI-powered document scanner to process loads and assign drivers. This used to be a highly manual task for dispatchers. However, this technology doesn’t displace truck dispatchers, but rather, it empowers them to provide the human touch with clients in ways they hadn’t had time for in the past, and their job satisfaction is going way up as a result.
While many jobs will shift or become obsolete, causing tremendous pain on both an individual level and en masse, AI will also create remarkable opportunities.
Bryan Jones, Founder and CEO, Truckbase.com
Inherent Bias Risk in AI
Inherent bias is a tremendous risk in AI. Machines learn what we teach them. If an algorithm learns from the data it is given and its human programming to apply a certain set of standards, and make a certain set of decisions to one group because of certain demographic criteria and data, you risk unleashing biased (and possibly racist) technology.
This can have a dramatic impact on people’s lives, from the healthcare they receive, to how they are treated in the legal system, to mortgage and credit card approvals, to applications for jobs and schools, and more.
Robert Foney, CMO, Healthmetryx, Inc.
Potential Privacy Breaches in AI Data Collection
Let’s take online gaming as an example. Games like Fortnite use AI to analyze player behaviors, preferences, and trends to create personalized experiences. However, this data collection exposes players to potential privacy breaches, putting their personal information at risk.
In the realm of dating technology, apps like Tinder also use AI to match profiles based on user interests and behaviors. This means your personal preferences, messages, and even your location could fall into the wrong hands.
These risks are not hypothetical—they’ve already happened in cases like the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica scandal. We need to address these privacy concerns now. It’s crucial to establish clear rules for data collection and usage by AI systems in the early stages of their development.
Lucas Wyland, Founder, Steambase