Artificial Intelligence (AI) is used for completing complex human tasks with efficiency, and Machine Learning (ML) is used for identifying patterns in large data sets to solve specific problems. Evolution is on the precipice of the journey towards singularity, or the event at which computer intelligence surpasses that of humans. AI hasn’t taken over yet, but our computing machines are quickly recognizing patterns and preparing to think autonomously. In this age of advanced machine learning, how do we prepare for a world where computers learn to the point that they are making their own decisions?

Over the next decade, AI will help organizations speed the rate of decision-making, displace jobs and create others, reduce carbon emissions by shortening supply chains, and test society’s ethical commitments. We have already heard arguments from artists, entertainers, and other creatives about how their original work is being fed to machines to use without attribution. We have also begun to discuss the extinction-level threat AI poses to the human species. However, until the dystopian outcome rings true, we must make plans to deal with the growing pains of adapting to a new era of technological advancement.

Artificial Intelligence At Work and in Education 

The integration of Artificial intelligence in schools has introduced another method for students to misuse educational tools to plagiarize work. However, the majority of students who copy and paste what pops up from ChatGPT reveal to educators how little they know about how to use the tool. 

Most educators can tell when a body of work has been plagiarized using ChatGPT, especially with younger students unfamiliar with using reference material in their research. However, when utilized correctly, AI can actually enhance the learning experience, optimize instruction, and help support educators by offering personalized learning, automated grading, real-time feedback, tutoring, and analytics. 

This goes the same for members of the workforce. AI tools are streamlining the process of all of our jobs and cutting out wasted time spent on extraneous steps. Those in the current job market should embrace AI tools and dive into educating themselves on how to use them because these tools aren’t hypothetical. AI exists in the here and now and is a part of society today.

The fact of the matter is that we cannot put Pandora’s contents back in the box. AI tools already exist and are developing at a steady pace. Educating students and our workforce on how to use these AI tools properly is the only way that we can strengthen skills, empower young academics in their future endeavors, and keep members of our workforce engaged. Simply put, we should be teaching students and ourselves how to use AI tools because many people are already using them, and they should be instructed on how to use these tools properly.  

Artificial Intelligence and Conservation of the Self

Understandably, artificial intelligence is seen as a threat to human self-conservation. Our definition of AI doesn’t describe the type of knowledge but the author of where the knowledge or thought originates from. The artificial naming holds the autobiography of the author of the thought.

Machine learning is a branch of artificial intelligence (AI) that uses algorithms and mathematical models to teach computers to learn from experience without direct instruction. Machines must use past information for context clues on how to operate. The more information you feed the machine, the better it is at making its own decisions.

However, as time goes on, the computer craves more, and humans end up being farmed by big tech companies to feed it. Our natural inclination to document our lives so that we can look back and remember is being exploited for the future of all humanity and its collective knowledge. Again, this doesn’t have to be a negative thing completely. 

At the moment, AI has several limitations that prevent it from destroying human creativity. AI is great at complex tasks, but it hasn’t yet reached the level where it can replicate intuition, emotional depth, and the unpredictability of human creativity.  For now and for the foreseeable future, we can rest easy knowing that, even though life will inevitably change dramatically, AI will not completely replace humans in the workplace. Instead, interacting with AI and other technologies and allowing the complex tool to help us transform the nature of human work by performing tasks will carve humans a place in this brave new world.