Artificial Intelligence And The Future Of Humans Posted on : May 06 - 2021

Artificial intelligence is already impacting virtually every industry and every human being. This incredible technology has brought many good and questionable things into our lives, and it will create an even bigger impact in the next two decades.

According to Ray Kurzweil, one of the most-known futurists, computers will have the same level of intelligence as humans by 2029. Kurzweil stated to Futurism, "2029 is the consistent date I have predicted for when an AI will pass a valid Turing test and therefore achieve human levels of intelligence. I have set the date 2045 for the 'Singularity' which is when we will multiply our effective intelligence a billion fold by merging with the intelligence we have created."

However remarkable this technology may be, it doesn't come without some major concerns for humanity. Movies like Ex Machina, Transcendence and Her show us the dark side of AI reaching human-level consciousness. There have also been some serious concerns coming from scientists, politicians and technologists that should not be taken lightly.

AI will make most people better off, but its advances will also affect what it truly means to be human in the 21st century. This article explores the juxtaposition of the risks and benefits of what is about to come.

The Bright Side Of The AI Future

• Precision medicine. AI is currently in use to understand how a person's genetics, environment and lifestyle can help determine the best approach to prevent or treat a certain disease. Digital therapeutics, custom-designed drugs and improved diagnosis are already making treatments more affordable, accessible, accurate and are helping humans live longer and healthier lives.

• Driverless cars. Deep learning excels at tasks involving pattern recognition, and modern cars will be better than humans when it comes to perception, prediction and planning on the fly. IEEE Spectrum noted that one forecast has autonomous cars handling 70% of all miles driven by 2035. Fatal driving accidents are projected to drop dramatically as autonomous vehicles become mainstream and make deaths from driver error a thing of the past.

• Virtual assistants. AI virtual assistants like Siri, Alexa and other programs that use natural language processing to understand and perform tasks given by humans are taking off. Voice technology is already making life easier and is in wide use, but it will play a far more critical part in our lives in the future when virtual assistants are connected to robots and are part of the singularity. View More