Ethical Use Of AI

Dixya Poudel

In the world of internet today, you can’t escape AI (Artificial Intelligence) whether it is chatbots on websites or algorithms in social media. What then is AI? Broadly speaking, it signifies a branch of computer science that can carry out tasks that require human intelligence such as decision making, learning, language processing, reasoning and problem solving. It is a field that is growing at an astonishing rate. Driven by faster processing speeds in computers along with larger memory and ability to process and store huge quantity of data, development of AI has led to widespread commotion and conversation.

Will AI then steal jobs from humans? Will students resort to AI such as ChatGPT to complete their assignments? And even the absurd but eerily scary question, will there be an AI uprising? Delegating tasks is innate to humans. Even within families there are hierarchies, as the elderlies assign household chores to the young ones. 

In workplace, supervisors and those on the higher rungs delegate tasks to their subordinates. One cannot vouch for the Neanderthals but ancient humans who recorded their daily life in written form did have social strata that determined their responsibilities. 

Today, the concept of tasks designation has presided over the labour world wherein employers assign work to their employees. The point is that people tend to allocate, distribute and delegate work for a better and efficient use of their time. 

It isn’t thus surprising that with the advent of computers and complex software, people have been delegating tasks to the machines, mostly automated ones as the world has become increasingly digitalised. Since its invention, computers have been used by humans to carry out complex works such as processing, communication and data storage. 

Particularly, software development has led to computer programmes such as spreadsheets, word processors and web browsers that enhance human performance. Such software is used in nearly all aspects of the world making humans quite reliant on computers and machines which is only going to increase in the future thanks to AI. 

The appeal of AI is its ability to perform repetitive as well as tedious tasks in an automated manner. For example, chatbots powered by AI can conduct customer service. Its algorithms can evaluate vast data to pinpoint patterns and ultimately make predictions. 

These are very useful attributes in business especially as most businesses today are conducted online. Here, use of AI can save money, energy and time while at the same time increasing productivity and efficiency. Not just in business but also in education, healthcare, finance, medical and scientific research, AI can have profound implications by helping analyse data in a cost-effective and speedy manner. 

Despite all these advantages, there are still murky questions when it comes to the ethics and potential misuse of Artificial Intelligence. It could also lead to replacing of human workers creating wealth inequality and proliferation of job displacement. Students could use it to write papers. 

Even in creative work such as art, films and literature, AI could replace human workers. It is no wonder then that there are increasing uproars over the rampant use of AI. It has thus called to a responsible, accountable and ethical use of AI in such a way that allows people to focus on more creative, important and intricate tasks.