The Age of Digital Technology: What are the implications of AI?
By: Maria Nakhaee-Zadeh Gutierrez
Tags: Digisoc3, Digital Society, AI, Privacy, Employment

Unsplash license | Possessed Photography

Within just a few years, it is unbelievable how dependent we have become on automated technologies. They are all around us…from automatic doors in supermarkets to Robo-advisors for financial advising. They are that common that we often take them for granted, but the reality is that these technologies have completely transformed our lives.

Unsplash license | Museums Victoria

Automatisation can be traced back to the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in 1760. The high demand for goods such as cotton and paper created the need for cheaper and more efficient mechanisms to substitute manual manufacturing processes, giving rise to automated technologies. In the textile industry, the Spinning Jenny significantly reduced the amount of work needed to produce fabrics. In the paper industry, the Fourdrinier machine increased the speed of paper production. Other industrial fields such as transportation followed the same path and started automating their processes to improve the efficiency of their operations.

Unsplash license | Possessed Photography

More recently, in the 20th century, advances in data storage and computational capacity, as well as, in analytics, statistical analysis and software have led to the rapid rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI). In simple terms, AI is the simulation of human intelligence in machines that are programmed to think and act like human beings. As a disruptive technology, AI not only has the potential to transform entire industries and corporations but also, the world we are living in. Therefore, it is important to consider what the implications of this technology are, and how AI will continue to make an impact in the future.

Unsplash license | Franki Chamaki

“AI has made life easier”

The use of AI enables gathering and analysing complex and large data sets that humans wouldn’t be able to do on their own. This leads to a higher quality of information and a significant improvement in the speed and accuracy of analysis, which surprisingly can make our life easier! Look at Netflix for example. With over 7,000 films and TV shows, it is almost impossible to find what to watch without looking at Netflix’s recommendations. Netflix’s recommendation system uses AI algorithms to automate the search process for its users. To do so, the system predicts the probability of a user watching a movie or show based on the data collected. This includes information about the titles and genres the user watches, the user’s ratings, the time the user spends watching a show, etc. AI can therefore be leveraged to perform complex tasks faster and ease some of our day-to-day tasks.

Unsplash license | Markus Spiske

Cybersecurity in the Age of AI

In addition to AI’s ability to automate tasks, this technology can be used to improve the security of a network. This is because based on data about the number of login attempts and the frequency of queries, AI identifies outliers as suspicious. Furthermore, AI can be used as a powerful tool for fraud detection. AI algorithms can process large datasets and find the correlations between user behaviour and the probability of fraudulent activities. In such a way, businesses can use AI to lower the time to recognise, analyse and respond to security threats.

However, AI can also lead to the so-called cyber-attacks. Like any other IT system, AI can be hacked. For example, hackers can use generative adversarial networks (GANs) to trick facial recognition security systems and attack voice authentication systems. Similarly, AI can be used as a weapon by hackers. For instance, it is has become common to receive “spear-phishing” — an email scam that is personalised by using AI to increase the chances of people opening these emails. Especially, now that most of us are working from home, far from an organization’s security infrastructure, these risks are increasing. Thus, how to reduce these risks has become one of the main concerns of cybersecurity experts.

Unsplash license | Lukas

AI and Employment

The rapid rise of AI raises ethical questions regarding how this technology will impact the job market. According to a Mckinsey report of 2017, AI has the potential to fully automate individual activities rather than entire occupations. Indeed, it is estimated that approximately 50% of all the individual activities in the workforce could be fully automated, which represents $15trillion in salaries. The activities that are more likely to be automated are physical activities in predictable environments and those that require huge amounts of data to be analysed quickly. This primarily includes activities that are in the manufacturing, retail and hospitality industry; mainly, low-skilled activities.

It is important to note, however, that given the current capabilities of AI, human intervention is still essential. For example, since 2019 AI can be used to predict which women are at risk of breast cancer. With this innovation, AI is not threatening doctors in the workplace and instead is complementing and improving doctors’ abilities. In fact, AI algorithms can diagnose cancer with 92% accuracy, while humans can do it with 96% accuracy. But when you combine both…the accuracy reaches 99%! Impressive, isn’t it?

Unsplash license | Christina

Furthermore, the introduction of AI has changed the employment landscape as it has created the need for skills that complement this technology. This includes skills that can’t be imitated by AI such as judgment, critical thinking, empathy, and creativity. As well as skills that can help develop, manage and configure AI systems such as numerical, programming and data analysis skills.

Unsplash license | John Moeses Bauan

Automating Inequality

One of the main implications of AI is the polarisation of the labour market. As previously mentioned, low-skilled jobs are the ones most affected by the introduction of AI. This has created a gap between employees who have access to higher education and work experience and those who don’t, which could lead to greater income inequalities. To prevent this, governments are imposing tighter regulations on Big Tech companies with the aim of protecting their employees, and are even penalising AI by taxing robots. Nevertheless, an efficient long-term solution to the inequality caused by AI lies in providing an education system that can teach our future generations how to harness and responsibly use AI in their careers.

In conclusion, AI has dramatically disrupted the way our economy works, and overall the world we are living in. This technology not only eases some of our day-to-day tasks but can be used for cybersecurity purposes and to increase the efficiency of existing job occupations. However, it is equally important to consider the negative implications associated with AI, such as an increasing number of cyberattacks, job losses and greater inequalities. Therefore, it is our responsibility as citizens of a digital world to use AI in an ethical way and educate our future generations for the world they will find themselves in, in the future.

Unsplash license | Andy Kelly

Self-Reflection

As a business student who is specialising in Finance, my past 3 years in university have been all about numbers. But for my last semester as a university student, I wanted to get out of my comfort zone and explore topics not directly associated with my degree. That is why I decided to pursue a UCIL module. In particular, I chose the Digital Society module because, from an early age, I have been deeply interested in technology. Therefore, learning about how digital technologies are shaping our society through this module seemed like the perfect opportunity to enjoy and develop an interest of mine.

After completing this module, I can say that my experience with the course has been better than what I initially expected. Not only have I learnt about a topic that plays a significant role in today’s society, but I have also developed vital skills for living and working in an increasingly digitalised world.

Unsplash license | Nadine Shaabana

While I found all topics interesting, I particularly enjoyed the “the individual, identity and ethics” topic in week 6. Technology is inevitable in our day to day lives, but are we aware of the impact it is having on our lives? In my opinion, technology has impacted my life for the good. For example, as an international student, digital technologies have enabled me to stay connected with my family and friends during the Covid pandemic. However, this topic has also opened my eyes to the ethical challenges that digital technologies have posed in our society, such as the creation of cyber-bullying or the aggravation of political debate. This made me realised two main things: it is important to be responsible digital citizens to protect our privacy and reputation, and that before posting something online we should all think about how it may affect us, the people around us, and the wider online community.

Unsplash license | Jason Strull

Due to COVID-19, the module was online, which is something I found a bit challenging. During the first weeks, I was indeed falling behind with the topics as I was struggling to work from home. But as the semester advanced, I started adapting to this new work environment and I managed to stay on top of university work and meet all my deadlines.

Furthermore, this module has helped me develop my critical thinking. During the three different assessments, I was required to think beyond simple descriptions and weigh up all the pros and cons of an argument. I believe that critical thinking is a lifelong skill that will contribute to my personal and professional growth by enabling me to make rational decisions instead of reactive ones. Overall, I found the Digital Society module enjoyable and extremely useful for my next adventure in which I will be working closely with digital technologies.