Should Autonomous AI be Feared? Yes! Say 60% of Brits in a Survey

Data Science especially Artificial Intelligence has moved great strides, right from Intelligent Automation to driving cars, however, the human trust factor in AI still remains a concern.

In a recent study conducted by a leading international Artificial Intelligence authority, Fountech.ai pointed out that 44 per cent of UK adults don't properly understand how AI works. The survey which saw a participation of 2,000 UK-based adults, pulled concerning perceptions.

About 60% have reservations by the idea that AI systems can function without human assistance. This rises to a whopping 70 per cent among the elderly above 55 years of age. More than half who were surveyed, 57 per cent to be precise consider Artificial Intelligence algorithms as fundamentally flawed, perceiving that technology cannot apply the same amount of intuition or emotional intelligence as humans for decision making.

The notion of autonomous AI is still far from public adoption, almost 69 per cent, of those surveyed view that there should be a human being always around these AI algorithms to monitor, supervise, and check decisions made by the machines. This percentage rises to 77 per cent, among those aged over 55.

Nikolas Kairinos, the founder of Fountech.ai, explains that doubts over AI persist and steam from a natural inclination to mistrust when it is not understood, especially the rationale behind its predictions and thinking mechanisms.  Mr.Kairinos adds that "There is still a significant knowledge gap when it comes to people's general awareness and understanding of artificial intelligence. As a result, many people are naturally apprehensive about giving up certain decision-making powers to machines".

Adding to the general mistrust surrounding AI, Mr.Kairinos says, "There is a certain level of unproven mistrust towards AI, and one can argue this is a result of how it is typically portrayed in films and books. Humans tend to fear things they don't understand, and our research demonstrates this point."

The positive difference that Technology brings to human lives cannot be ignored, as asserted by Mr.Kairinos, and as these benefits become more apparent, the concerns and mistrusts surrounding AI will soon start to cease. He says, "The reality is AI has already become engrained into our daily lives – many people are relying on and actively using AI without actually realising it. As this continues, I am hopeful more people will come to realise the many advantages this technology has to offer, including its ability to inform better decision-making. Until such a time, however, we must educate people on the basic principles of AI, and explain why it has the potential to transform our lives for the better."

Artificial Intelligence as a Way of Life

With each passing day, Artificial Intelligence is making a difference in our lives and for good. Here are some instances-

Humanitarian Initiatives-

•  Artificial intelligence is touted as one of the most viable tools to fight and possibly end world hunger crises.

•  Though analysing millions of data points Artificial Intelligence models help determine the perfect crop, develop seeds, control precisely herbicide application and help to maximise current output.

Reducing Bias and Inequalities-

•  Often Artificial Intelligence algorithms are criticised for causing human bias introduced via skewed algorithms or training data sets onto the models. However, AI can help to reduce bias based on gender or race or colour.

•  In a Stanford University project, AI algorithms analyse satellite imagery to forecast poverty regions, this is vital intelligence which eventually influences economic aid.

•  Besides, London's Imperial College is training Artificial Intelligence to identify inequality based on street images of different cities' living conditions, to ultimately use this information to improve living conditions, reduce inequalities and promote a healthy community.

Healthcare–

•  Artificial Intelligence's imaging capabilities are encouraging for cancer cell identification and prescriptive screening.

•  Artificial intelligence algorithms can predict potential diseases across the healthcare network by analysing on previous medical encounters, like patient's hospital visits and medications.

Climate Change-

•  Technology especially AI and machine learning may tackle climate change as well. ML models can improve climate informatics, currently, they power approximately 30 climate models used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

•  AI can also help environmentalists analyse and predict the impacts of climate change over different geographies.