AI in 2024: State Of The AI World (Part 1)
Part 1 in on our snapshot look at AI in 2024 focuses on general pluses and minuses of artificial intelligence.
Posted by Charlie Recksieck
on 2024-07-11
Writing a blog post about progress in artificial intelligence is like trying to hit a moving target. But let's take a snapshot of what we predict will happen (good and bad) and where we think AI progress is right now in late 2024.
The Good
Unsurprisingly, techies and professionals working as AI experts are more bullish than the general public. Here's Bill Gates' love letter to AI from late last year - it’s actually a very good read and excellent things to keep in mind. Despite the excited nerds, a recent survey this year indicates that 50% of the public is more concerned than excited about A.I. vs. 10% more excited than concerned (with the usual 40% of the public having no opinion).
Purely on an achievement and efficiency basis, there is a lot to like about what A.I. promises:
Increased Efficiency and Productivity: AI will automate routine tasks, boost productivity, and improve decision-making across industries like software, manufacturing, finance, and customer service.
Advancements in Specialized Fields: There is considerable optimism about AI’s role in complex data analysis for areas like medical diagnosis and treatment, drug development, weather forecasting, and scientific discovery.
Enhanced Daily Life: AI has already heavily improved products like navigation apps, streaming services, and virtual assistants, often without people realizing it.
Solving Major Challenges: If AI can help tackle global issues such as climate change and world hunger, then we can make a much better overall case for putting up with the negatives.
Maybe they could be our savior instead of our Matrix-like destruction.
The Bad
And yet, here are some obvious concerns:
Job Displacement: The public (over 60% in some surveys) is that AI will lead to fewer job opportunities and a decline in the human workforce, especially in jobs like cashiers, factory workers, and even software engineers.
At some point if artificial intelligence eliminates the need for 40-75% of current jobs, then what do the rest of us actually do for work?
Just give massages to people with real jobs?
Erosion of Human Skills and Connections: Many worry that an over-reliance on AI will worsen people’s ability to think creatively, solve problems independently, and form meaningful personal relationships.
At the very least, my ability to spell correctly and do math is eroding.
Misinformation and Deepfakes: A top concern is the potential for AI to be used for the spread of false information, misleading deepfakes, and political propaganda.
My argument to this is that many people don't believe verified facts anyway lately.
Bias and Ethics: There are significant worries about algorithmic bias, data misuse, and the concentration of power in tech companies, leading to strong public support for increased government regulation and transparency in AI development.
When AI tools scraped all previous human writing, that was one thing.
But once AI-generated content gets to be about 50% of the new content out there, then AI will be scraping AI content - when you make a copy of a copy, things degrade.
Loss of Control and Trust: A majority of the public expresses a desire for more control over how AI is used in their lives and often has little confidence in companies or the government to manage AI responsibly.
We’ll put a pin in it there. Next week, we’ll get into 2024 trends in AI usage in general and in my personal and professional life.
