Should we be afraid of artificial intelligence?

GUELPH – Artificial intelligence is increasingly finding its way into our lives. Should we be afraid?

Probably a little. But not to the point where we live in fear and avoid all technology, Kevin Matsui said Wednesday evening at the main branch of the Guelph Public Library.

Matsui is executive director of the Center for Advancing Responsible and Ethical Artificial Intelligence (CARE-AI) at the University of Guelph.

In his talk, he addressed burning questions about AI – whether it is taking jobs away from people, spreading misinformation and whether it is generally something to be feared or welcomed.

The event was the first installment of the Friends of the Guelph Public Library’s Open Minds Fall Speaker Series, which is free to the public.

While there are certainly concerns, “it’s like any other technology,” he said.

In fact, most of us have probably been interacting with AI for longer than we think.

Streaming services like Spotify and Netflix, for example, use AI to create targeted recommendations. It is also used in the sports industry to analyze game footage and improve fan experience and player performance and safety.

The Moderna vaccine even used AI in its development and testing. Typically, drug development takes 10 years, but Moderna did it in a matter of weeks by using a design approach and using data to make predictions.

Future drug development will rely heavily on artificial intelligence to speed development and combat things like antibiotic-resistant pathogens, he said.

It can also help track insect biodiversity, predict what type of soil you should grow a plant in, analyze medical imaging, predict food prices, personalize education, and more.

Still, AI is unlikely to replace jobs – at least not as many as you might think, and not right away.

For example, while AI is becoming increasingly common in almost all workforces, physical workplaces that are not heavily influenced by AI are not really at risk. This is because physical activities that lack repetition, such as welding, are unique to each situation.

Nurses could benefit from using AI to ensure people take their medications at the correct dosage, or radiologists could benefit from AI assistance in interpreting scans, but these tasks still require physical workers and would likely not be replaced, he said.

Jobs at greatest risk of being replaced are data entry or text-based jobs with a higher level of repetition. But Matsui said that likely won’t happen anytime soon.

So what are the concerns?

One of them is the increasing difficulty of distinguishing what is real and what is not. One participant pointed to a video that seemed real but turned out to be AI-generated and spread misinformation.

To that end, he said to treat it like any other scam, with caution, skepticism and fact-checking.

Another option was to prevent people from passing off AI writing as their own.

While he said it is becoming increasingly difficult to tell what has been developed by AI, universities are combating this by changing the way they assess – for example, by requiring essay writing to take place in person.

Many are also concerned that AI is being used for nefarious purposes – a responsibility he says lies with the government.

“The legislature needs to catch up and really anticipate some of the problems going forward,” he said.

As AI takes the world by storm, he said, everyone is suddenly an expert overnight, leading to the spread of some misinformation. When Boeing 737 Max planes crashed on autopilot in recent years, some blamed AI – but in reality it was due to poor technology and a poor safety culture.

In order to combat misinformation, it is important to distinguish between what is AI and what is not: A calculator, an automated vehicle or cruise control are not AI technology; they are pre-programmed.

It’s also worth noting that generative AI like ChatGPT is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to AI as a whole, and may not be as big an industry as you might think.

“I’m appropriately concerned, but not petrified yet,” he said.