Five misconceptions about AI

Hello and welcome to The Daily Update, a daily newsletter dedicated to sharing the most up-to-date developments in artificial intelligence that can help you optimize your business operations and day-to-day work. Today we’ll be looking at some of the most common misconceptions about AI.

1. AI replace human workers

   The most popular theory is that AI will take over jobs. Promoters of this theory are generally concerned that AI will become so advanced and cheap that hiring human labor will seem too expensive.

   While low-level jobs such as data entry and sorting may be at risk, the rest of the population will benefit from having AI at their disposal. Most workers will see their job efficiency improve as automation takes over menial tasks. The Gartner research firm actually projects that AI will generate 2.3 million new jobs.

2. AI will go rogue

   In short, AI algorithms cannot develop beyond their own code and won’t become more advanced without human knowledge. We are beginning to see unsupervised machine learning take place, in which AI learns from its own results, but it is otherwise impossible for AI to develop consciousness on its own.

3. AI is only for tech giants

   Today’s AI landscape is dominated by colossal software companies such as Google, Meta, and Microsoft. This has led many to believe that only big companies can effectively utilize AI, and some even speculate that these companies could use AI to control the population in the future.

   The reality is that AI is far more accessible today than most people realize. There are tons of affordable AI tools that can be used by small businesses to automate and assist tasks. I’ll take a closer look at some of them in the coming weeks, but for now just know that they’re there.

4. AI is just a fad

   While public discourse about AI tends to lead to overspeculation, artificial intelligence will have significant enduring effects. AI presents a clear business advantage for teams that integrate it into their work. Some companies are already hiring Chief Automation Officers that dedicate their time to using AI to streamline business processes and increase efficiency. Integrating AI into your business operations presents an opportunity to get ahead of the curve as AI continues to evolve.

5. Superintelligent AI will take over the world

   This is your Matrix esque doomsday scenario. Today’s technology is simply incapable of creating superintelligent AI, so it’s more of a theoretical possibility than a practical reality. Regulations that are being called for by leaders in the AI sector will likely mitigate the potential risks associated with intelligent AI programs.

Fears about AI are understandable, but artificial intelligence poses no threat to society in its current state. Just as innovations of the past such as the cotton gin and printing press paved the way for increased efficiency and new career opportunities, so too will AI.