Artificial Intelligence Research Paper

Introduction

Throughout the late 20th and current 21st century, the concept and use of artificial Intelligence has been thrown around a lot by both engineers, researchers, and the general public alike. It’s become a massive topic of discussion and a potential gold mine for big tech industries going forward.  However, considering how often people talk about AI, there tends to be little understanding around it and the countless other developments and issues that exist under it. In the 1990s, John McCarthy, known as the Father of Artificial Intelligence, described AI as "the science and engineering of making intelligent machines.” This is AI in its simplest form. It's the creation of machines with their own level of intellect and analytic ability created at the hands of engineers and scientists. Presently, it’s also a rapidly growing field that impacts significant aspects of major developed nations as well as the lifestyle of the average consumer. Artificial Intelligence has evolved from a slowly growing industrial concept to a major element in modern life. It’s crucial to understand the innumerable ways that AI is expanding, how this impacts industries and society, and what it may look like in the future. These, among other topics, must be analyzed and discussed to properly understand artificial intelligence and its impacts along with its advancements. 

Current Use

AI’s rapid expansion has led to a variety of uses that range from major industrial developments to individual productivity Having been utilized in countless ways, it has revolutionized every area that it’s been applied to including medical science, agriculture, manufacturing, and various other fields. From the personal use of programs such as SIRI, Cortana, and Alexa contributing to individual productivity to IBM computing systems that are developing quantum algorithms in computer engineering and major aspects of quantum computing, AI influences these fields and everything in between. Artificial Intelligence is meant to fulfill the role of intelligent machines that think rationally or machines that match human intellect without human limits. By taking on this role, it is typically found in areas that require machines with the ability to constantly adapt and think for themselves in any situation. 

Security Aspects

The beauty of Artificial Intelligence dominantly lies in its ability to take in and process information in a way that is more advanced than any machine that’s been seen before. It goes beyond simply processing information but is also able to actively generate and think through data in a way that resembles human intellect without the disadvantages of the human mind. However, this also leaves room for it to be taken advantage of. While machines programmed with modern artificial intelligence excel in thinking analytically about relevant information and forming innovative uses with it, they are also susceptible to being fed misinformation that turns the productivity of the AI’s function against the user. This creates a security risk on both national and domestic scales. This is presented particularly in AI surveillance systems, which have proven to be distinctly susceptible to AI and have been an advantage and detriment to cybersecurity by creating new methods for hackers to infiltrate personal and industrial devices. 

Ethical and Social Implications

The use of artificial intelligence is disproportionate, and its benefits end up being so as well. It has distinctly created a divide between the lower and upper economic classes. This is shown in the manufacturing industry, where AI has helped machines adapt to complete small yet complicated procedures without the use of manual labor. While this is beneficial to manufacturers and consumers, it has been detrimental to the workforce and has led to countless jobs and careers to become obsolete. This has proven to be a trend in fields like industrial manufacturing, where jobs typically completed by employees are taken over by intelligent machines. The working class has taken a devastating hit by this movement and has caused countless people to go jobless without any means to learn to operate these machines. While the upper-middle and upper class have the opportunity to enjoy the benefits of increased product quality and distribution by the means of machines developed with AI, the lower economic classes are robbed of potential careers and financial security. This is one of a legion of different ways that the unethical use of AI contributes to the division of economic and racial classes with no means to repair the unequal distribution of benefits.

Future Use

Artificial intelligence has a long list of capabilities that have gone unexplored. However, there are great efforts to explore and utilize its many possibilities. Engineers are working towards having it closely resemble the intricacies of human intelligence and creativity. In addition to this, there is work to have AI understand and resemble human emotion and wisdom to an extent in certain fields. This is a development that is focused specifically on the medical field but has also become relevant in several other areas as well.