ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF THE IMPACT

OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Veronica Flores
OGL 340: Artificial Intelligence: The Human Side
Bill Erwin
2/7/24

Total Word Count: 1504 words

PAPER 1
“ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF THE IMPACT
OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE”
 Artificial intelligence is a type of technology that is self-learning and will continue

to take in information to learn and adapt. A type of artificial intelligence is the predictive

text in Google search engines, it learns what the most popular requests are and makes

suggestions based on what it thinks you are going to search for. Artificial intelligence

has grown significantly in the last few decades and is becoming more prominent in daily

life. It is active in most parts of the world and there is a competitive nature to the

discovery of making the technology more advanced. Artificial intelligence is currently

being studied and developed in most countries, with the leaders being China and the

United States.

What Level of Awareness Exists?

Basic awareness of artificial intelligence is fairly common, meaning that there

are a number of people who understand that there are advancements being made in

technology. However, the understanding of what exactly artificial intelligence is and how

it can learn is uncommon. There is certain doubt or even misinformation about the

technological advancements that are being made. Understanding artificial intelligence

for the average person mostly comes from science fiction, such as robots that rise up

and take over the human race. There is a common misconception about artificial

intelligence and what the advancements are going to be in the near future. Artificial

intelligence can have many benefits, however, there are a lot of risks and unknowns

that come with those benefits.

Upon conducting interviews with my family members for the survey in this

course, I came to the conclusion that knowledge of the developments and uses for

artificial intelligence differ greatly. One interviewee has no use of any artificial
intelligence in daily life and therefore does not know much about it or what it can be

used for. The other interviewee works closely with artificial intelligence and has more of

a well-rounded understanding of the cause and effect of artificial intelligence. Both

brought up good points about the effects of artificial intelligence on society, but the one

who works with artificial intelligence had more insight. He was able to think of more risks

that arise with artificial intelligence situations.

The Economic/Political Impact of AI

One of the major economic concerns of artificial intelligence is the technology

taking over certain necessary jobs. For example, truck driving is a major job in the

United States. “Driving a truck is the most popular job in 29 states—there are 3.5 million

truck drivers nationwide” (Yang,2019). With the development of self-driving cars and

the road to self-driving trucks, we could see millions of people out of a job. There are

some benefits to switching over to self-driving trucks. “Switching to automated drivers

would not only save billions, but it also has the potential to save thousands of lives…

Driver fatigue is a factor in roughly one out of seven fatal accidents” (Yang, 2019).

However, with any new technology, there are pros and cons. The cons include the

effect on the economy if truck drivers are replaced, there would be a ripple effect. The

technology is not perfect enough yet to replace those workers but there would be an

outrage of people losing their jobs that would not go silently.

The political impacts of artificial intelligence relate to the misuse of the

technology to cause trouble. These days, there is technology so advanced that you can

make it look like someone is doing or saying something that is incorrect. “The “fake

news” of 2016 is so passé. This year, fake video and audio clips generated by artificial
intelligence (AI) are the new looming threat that could sway voters in the upcoming U.S.

presidential election” (Reardon, 2024). Imagine if someone created an artificial

replication of the president and made him look as though he was declaring war. The

ramifications of that could cause a full-scale war, and now we have nuclear weapons.

A recent example of these artificial intelligence-generated issues revolves around

the famous singer Taylor Swift. Last week, news came out that she was pursuing legal

action against the creation of pornographic images of her that went viral. She claims

that they look very realistic and it was disconcerting to see these images. The White

House caught wind of this event, “The White House Press Secretary told ABC News

Friday they are "alarmed" by what happened to Swift online and that Congress "should

take legislative action" (Travers, 2024). This brings up a whole new world of legal issues

that need to be addressed for these types of situations with Rep. Joe Morelle taking

action as he “renewed a push to pass a bill that would make nonconsensual sharing of

digitally-altered explicit images a federal crime, with jail time and fines.” (Travers, 2024)

This is something that governments need to consider as far as deciding what is going to

happen to those who misuse artificial intelligence.

The Sociological Impact of AI

One of the biggest sociological impacts of artificial intelligence is the next

generation of kids who are being raised with this new technology. In the video How

Artificial Intelligence Is Changing Our Society, Stephanie Druga talks about regulations

for smart toys or any devices that record data on kids. There was a toy that went viral a

few years ago called “furby” that parents realized was listening to kids. The dangers of

this discovery and what was being done with the information prompted the company to
change its system. She urges us to keep in mind who created these listening devices

that are in almost every home and what their true purpose is. She says “Trust and

intelligence are related because if I think that a device is smart I tend to trust it more”.

This means that kids are going to trust these smart devices by nature since they have

so much information.

Another factor of kids being raised in a technologically advanced world is the

potential for lack of social interaction. Kids are no longer forced to go outside to play

with each other, in fact going outside can be more dangerous in some areas. Therefore,

kids are staying home and turning to devices like video games or online browsing that

they may not benefit from. The effects of starting social media at a young age can be

detrimental to a young developing mind. There are so many studies now that show the

damage caused by social media and the unrealistic expectations it sets.

The Psychological Impact of AI

Artificial intelligence affects our daily lives as a civilization. With the use of so

much technology in our lives that has the potential to cause problems, it is only natural

that there are some feelings of uncertainty. When it comes to artificial intelligence, many

people do not understand it and what it is being used for. This can lead to anxiety about

fear of the unknown. One aspect of the psychological impact is the fear-mongering used

by those who do not know what they are talking about to scare others.

A realistic fear of artificial intelligence includes stolen identity, phishing through

emails, or hacking. Advancements in technology meant to be helpful also indicate that

the technology is there to be used in a harmful way. The section on automation anxiety

in module four talks about artificial intelligence taking over other jobs such as white-
collar workers. When pitted against humans, artificial intelligence can do better at a lot

of jobs and provide a more accurate result the first time. However, when you lose

human interaction you also lose human emotions.

(Optional) Other Impacts of AI

One of the benefits mentioned by Andy Blackwell is the identification of certain

behaviors in clinically depressed patients that can lead to a more accurate medication

distribution the first time. This can be beneficial for clients who have struggled with

being able to find a medicine that works for them. In the video How Artificial Intelligence

is Changing Our Society, Hugh Herr talks about his daily life with the use of advanced

technology. He uses artificial legs that are called “smart prosthesis” that gives people

the chance to have a normal life, such as the dancer who lost her leg in the Boston

Marathon attack. These are some of the positive impacts that stem from scientific

research in this technology.

Conclusion

At the end of the day, whatever our personal feelings are towards technological

advancements they are going to continue to be made every day. We have to make sure

that we do not look at these advancements as something to fear, but rather the growth

that it can bring. Understanding what is happening in the developing world can make it

easier to make that transition to the next generation of technology. Many bad things can

come out of technology, but as long as checks and balances are being managed by

governments we can try to focus on the positive outcomes. Technology is not going

anywhere, and we have to learn how to live in an ever-changing world.

 Resources

Reardon, S. (2024, January 29). How to spot a deepfake—and prevent it from

causing ... Science. https://www.science.org/content/article/how-spot-deepfake -

and-prevent-it-causing-political-chaos
Travers, K. (2024, January 26). Fake explicit Taylor Swift images: White House is

“alarmed.” ABC News. https://abcnews.go.com/US/white-house-calls-legislation -

regulate-ai-amid-explicit/story?id=106718520

Yang, A. (2019). The war on normal people the truth about America’s disappearing jobs

and why universal basic income is our future. Hachette Books.