In recent years, artificial intelligence (AI) has ceased to be fiction and has appeared, little by little but in a very real way, in our lives. As we study the future of AI, a number of ethical issues, challenges and opportunities have appeared, and we will explore them in detail.
How can we define artificial intelligence? Since John McCarthy first described it in 1956, the term artificial intelligence has been subject to debate. AI is used as an advertising gimmick to promote “intelligent” products, although how much AI is actually used in such products should be studied.
The study of what artificial intelligence is makes us reflect on our own intelligence and the many factors that come into play when a human being makes a decision. It is precisely in the ability of something artificial to make reasoned decisions that much of the debate around AI is situated.
The influence of artificial intelligence on our future
Technology is the main force that is transforming our lives and consumer habits. At least 70% of companies across the globe will adopt a form of technology that has some component of artificial intelligence within the next 10 years, according to an analysis by the American consulting firm McKinsey.
Overall spending on AI systems is expected to double in the next decade, but the advance of AI also brings problems, such as cybersecurity. The biggest challenge for technology companies is the development of secure systems, which promotes new opportunities for companies that decide to engage in cybersecurity.
AI-based growth pathways
It is essential to take into account the plurality and particularities of this sector, and to be able to identify new opportunities. Artificial intelligence is a new asset to be considered and has the potential to create new opportunities for growth, transform the way we perform certain jobs and strengthen the role of people, driving economic growth.
As a new asset, AI opens up important new avenues for economic growth. AI is a hybrid capital/labour resource, whose function is to extend and transcend the current capacity of both factors to drive economic growth.
It is our duty to prepare future generations for the role that artificial intelligence will play in their lives. The objective should be the integration of human intelligence with artificial intelligence, strengthening the role of people in generating knowledge.
It is also important to encourage AI-driven regulation by updating and creating flexible, self-improving laws to close the gap between the pace of technological change and the pace of regulatory response.
The impact on business and the challenges of the future
Artificial intelligence is changing the way we produce and work. AI is having a great impact on the business world, as its most demanded uses today are innovation and creation of new products and services, improvement of operational and cost efficiency, as well as taking decisions in a faster and simpler way.
In addition, automation and AI will present challenges in terms of talent management, work flexibility and mobility, aspects with great social significance.
Artificial intelligence is also beginning to be used in environmental protection, with uses in the fight against global warming, the protection of biodiversity or the management of resources such as water.
In short, like all new technologies, the benefits and harms of AI depend on how we choose to use it. This is why more and more academic institutions are insisting on the need to establish a transparent governance framework for AI. AI not only brings challenges and benefits on a large scale, but is changing the way we live and do business.
