Risks of Using Artificial Intelligence for the World Through 2034

-         

●      Science is light; that is how we were taught and how we learned. That is how we heard and saw, and still do. With technological progress, artificial intelligence (AI) has, rapidly, become part of our daily lives, leading to changes in the patterns and ways we work, communicate, and interact with the world around us... And what this technological progress offers humanity in technical services—an example being performing surgical operations on a human by a robot and artificial intelligence—in addition to a host of many other technical services... All of these represent the ethical side of using technology and artificial intelligence.

●      However, the light of this science sometimes turns into pitch darkness... because there are also services performed by artificial intelligence in this accelerating technology that have unethical aspects. For example, lethal autonomous weapons! (the use of unmanned drones automatically), using artificial intelligence. As a result of false or misleading information... they unjustly kill people in their targeting... since such weapons are devoid of human feelings and emotions, without a human reference, and loss of control over superintelligent AI may be the most pessimistic scenario among them all. In this regard, an AI system in one of its designs may decide that eliminating humans is the most effective way to achieve its objective... and this actually happened in a recent U.S. Air Force experiment dated 2 June/June 2023, - according to the source Al Jazeera - dated 11-6-2023, within an article by Rimahal-Dalqamuni, which in preparing her article, in addition to consulting specialized sources, resorted to benefiting from the opinion of artificial intelligence itself by posing the question to four well-known AI applications, including "Chat GPT" (Chat GPT which warned us, and one of them confirmed that "it is important to note that these scenarios are not predictions but potential risks we should be aware of and work to mitigate"!)

●      To acquaint you with the dimensions and perceptions of some potential AI risks in the coming decade, I summarize below a review of what was contained in a report issued by the Davos Economic Forum on artificial intelligence at its most recent 54th annual meeting for 2024... in the Davos resort in Switzerland. It presented the results of the GRPS (Global Risks Perception Survey) opinion poll for a selected sample of government leaders, private sector, scientists and experts from around the world... in September 2023... with the purpose of surveying their views on the state of the global future over two periods: a short two-year period (for 2024–2026) and a longer term of a decade (ten years up to 2034), and they were asked to predict the potential risks the world will face during those periods!

●      The participants in the survey believe that the world is undergoing multiple long-term stages of structural transformations, including, for example but not limited to, the rise of artificial intelligence, and there are some risks emerging from such transformations—most notably the repercussions of AI use—where environmental and technological risks rank in the top 10 classifications for the coming decade,

●      Technological acceleration is the most materially impactful on the global risk landscape. It is expected that a number of negative outcomes of AI technologies will increase during the next decade, the most important of which are:

●      Misinformation and disinformation, which took the number 1 spot among the highest classified risks, is one of the dangerous repercussions in the employment of artificial intelligence.... It no longer requires a set of specialized skills, as easy-to-use interfaces and platforms for large-scale AI models have already enabled an explosion of fake information and an increase in the volume of forged information, its reach, and its effectiveness, and what is called "synthetic" content    

●      This synthetic content will manipulate individuals, harm countries, and tear communities apart in many ways over the next two years. Fake information can be spread to achieve varied objectives, from "climate activism to escalation of conflict." New categories of crime will also proliferate, such as non-consensual pornography, market manipulation, endangering global trade, in addition to threatening social cohesion. Repressive governments could use enhanced regulatory censorship to undermine human rights and many other dangers—including the profound consequences that can threaten democratic processes. If the legitimacy of elections is questioned, and trust in elections, for example, becomes almost non-existent, then civil confrontation becomes possible—indeed, it may even extend into internal conflicts and terrorism—especially since, over the next two years for example, "nearly three billion people will head to the ballot boxes in many economies (countries)." Therefore, the presence of misleading and false information in these elections will be a serious factor in weakening confidence in the conduct and outcomes of elections -

●      Respondents to the GRPS survey mentioned above believe that misinformation and disinformation are the most networked risks and that societies may become divided in their political affiliations and perceptions of reality, posing a serious challenge to social cohesion. Manipulative narratives can infiltrate the public discourse on many issues. The spread of misinformation and disinformation can also be used to bolster digital authoritarianism, and to use technology to control citizens, particularly by authoritarian regimes, since it is now known that artificial intelligence can be used for mass surveillance (facial recognition systems, for example), enabling governments or other entities to monitor and control their citizens on an unprecedented scale, and to repress dissenting voices, including journalists and opponents!! This in turn leads to exposing citizens to political repression and local disinformation. The erosion of human rights and the increase and escalation of surveillance and tracking through data weakens human privacy through the use of artificial intelligence, given the opening it allows companies and government to unrestrictedly enter social media pages and subscribers’ posts on the internet, etc.

●      A clear example of this is the practices followed by the Israeli occupation authorities with Palestinians in the city of Hebron, where cameras monitor the movements and faces of Palestinians, store their data and identify them, and AI decides to permit their passage or deny it at various checkpoints, or even liquidate suspects, without human intervention.

●      There are also concerns about the possibility of using artificial intelligence to generate fake images, video clips, audio, or text (deepfakes) using advanced machine learning tools, leading to the spread of disinformation on a massive scale across the internet, which can undermine the integrity of information and erode trust in news sources and the integrity of institutions. This has appeared in the genocidal war being carried out by the Israeli occupation army against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip since 7 October 2023, when Israel claimed and displayed fabricated stories and events regarding scenes of cutting off the heads of Israeli children and alleged that Palestinian resistance fighters (Hamas) had carried them out, and Western media and other Western politicians, led by U.S. President Biden, circulated them, but their falsehood was proven and the occupation press admitted it, and it was established that this narrative was manufactured by artificial intelligence (synthetic content).

●      Job displacement (loss of jobs and labor disruption): AI has the ability to automate many jobs, which may lead to disruption of labor markets and the nature of many jobs significantly. Although AI may create new types and opportunities of jobs in the long term, the transition period may be difficult, as it affects millions of people who may find it difficult to find new jobs, adapt to the new economy, and reshape their skills. In light of the fact that AI systems will become more advanced and capable, it may lead to widespread unemployment and economic disruption. Especially, and that Skillsinthecoming decade,   more importantthancertifications,  andthere is noplacefor those with limitedexperience..!

●      The blind faith of most world leaders in technological solutions places a burden on them to address the risks and consequences of using artificial intelligence. For example, they must introduce new, advanced regulatory rules intended to target both hosts and creators of misleading information and illegal content online.. and build safeguards to prevent unintended consequences in what is known as the local response to these risks, in addition to ensuring the development of AI systems that align with human values.

●      Although it is unlikely that the "speed and effectiveness of regulation will match the pace of development", at a time when ChatGPT experts call, "the concerns about AI are justified, but they are undoubtedly exaggerated." He added that artificialintelligence is far from perfect, but this is an extremely modern technology, while at the same time demanding not to allow the setting of limits that would restrict innovation!!