The Age of AI

There is no doubt that artificial intelligence (AI) has advanced farther and wider than anyone had ever expected. While watching the documentary (which was released in 2019) I was surprised by how shocked everyone was when Google’s “AlphaGo” was able to beat Lee Sedol, the 18-time world champion, in a game of Go. The power of artificial intelligence has become so normalized for my generation that the idea of AI defeating a human didn’t come as a shock. The long-term ripple effects from this one game were also very shocking to learn about. In 2017, Xi Jinping announced a plan for China and artificial intelligence that projected China catching up with the U.S. by 2025 and leading the world by 2030. As of today, China leads the world in e commerce with technology that was generated by a new generation of those of a younger demographic. For example, their society has mostly surpassed the need for credit cards; instead, facial recognition has become a kind of currency, allowing people to pay for everyday supplies usually through e cashiers. In many ways, China is the best place for implementation due to the vast amount of data available which feeds AI technology feeds on. China is estimated to generate about 10x more data than the United States.  

The power of AI technology is both impressive and inspiring to many. This, of course, does not mean that the power of AI and what it means for the future is not frightening. The ultimate defeat of human intelligence by technology and innovations invented by humans feels inevitable. For the United States, our democratic system is what we as citizens prize above everything. Many find AI technology to be a threat to democracy as we grow increasingly more dependent on it and it may cause inequality, bias, and mistrust in democratic systems in place. A second major concern is our threat to privacy and national security. Through data and algorithms, AI intelligence can track each one of our digital moves. The true question on the minds of many is: Is AI worth it?