You must have heard the predictions from some of the brightest minds about AI's influence. Tesla and SpaceX's chief Elon Musk worries that AI is far more dangerous than nuclear weapons. The late scientist Stephen Hawking warned that AI could serve as the "worst event in the history of our civilization" unless humanity is prepared for its possible risks.
But many experts, even those who are aware of such risks, have a more positive attitude, especially in health care and possibly in education. That is one of the results from a new AI study released on Monday by the Pew Research Centre.
Pew investigated the opinions of 979 experts over the summer, a group that included famous technologists, developers, innovators, business and policy leaders. The experts interviewed, some of whom chose to remain anonymous(匿名的), were asked to join in the discussion of a serious and important question: "By 2030, do you think it is most likely that advancing AI and related technology systems will improve human capacities and control them?"
Nearly two-thirds of experts predicted most of us will be mostly better off. but a third thought otherwise, and a majority of the experts expressed at least some concerns over the long-term impact of AI on the "essential elements(要素) of being human". Among those concerns were data abuse(滥用), loss of jobs and loss of control brought by cybercrime(网络犯罪). Above all, by taking data in and spitting answers out, those "black box" tools make decisions in digital systems. It is the gradual removal of our ability to think for ourselves.
