Artificial Intelligence (AI) has made its way into our daily lives. From a simple chatbot to self-driving cars, and AI-powered doctors to autonomous robots, we can’t be oblivious to it. It is here, and changing the world around us. AI is an intelligent machine that can think, learn, and solve problems with accuracy most of the time. As AI continues to develop, a simple question with a complex answer arises: Will AI lead to a utopian future or a dystopian nightmare for humans?
History of Progress and Fear
The discovery of fire dates back approximately two million years. Can we guess what their immediate reaction was? Well, for one, they might have been scared. It sparks, emits heat, looks frightening, and can burn you. As for the discovery of electricity, we do not have a clear timeline, as different people were involved in its discovery over a wide range of time. However, static electricity, as we know it, was discovered by Thales around 600 BC. After many demonstrations and developments by various people worldwide, Thomas Edison invented the incandescent light bulb in 1879. We do not need to guess what happened after this, as much of what followed has been documented. After this, everything great followed; Nikola Tesla invented the alternator that produces Alternating Current (AC), which is the current we predominantly use today. The next big thing was the internet, dating back to the 1960s. To say the least, these were major discoveries and inventions made by humans that have led us here.
After every discovery, we have moved forward in every sense of the word. However, we cannot deny the fact that these discoveries were feared at one time in history. The thing with humans is that we, as a society, are fearful of change, yet we have been making inventions that have drastically changed our lives. The paradoxical nature of humans is what keeps us pushing forward and backwards, quite like a swing. The next big step forward is AI (Artificial Intelligence). Is it like every other major thing that we discussed? Some obvious hesitations in the beginning, but we learn to live with and around it. Or is it something that takes only a certain percentage of people forward, leaving the vast majority of humans behind?
What is AI?
AI is the ability of machines to replicate or at least mimic human intelligence. So, what is this intelligence that we are talking about? AI can learn from experience, recognise patterns, make decisions, and even generate creative content. It adapts and improves over time, making it extremely efficient at solving complex problems with great accuracy. It can process huge amounts of data at speeds that can’t be humanly possible. AI at its core is a system that does what is asked of it. So, is it like any other machine or system that takes input from humans and provides the required information? For a simple answer, yes. However, this is a small part of what AI is capable of. Now, AI can learn, adapt, mimic human-like behaviours, and even teach itself. We have taught a machine to teach itself. It would no longer require any help from humans. In simple terms, it can do almost anything.
AI’s Influence on Society
Some of its major uses are in research, learning, problem-solving, pattern recognition, language comprehension, predictions, task automation, and many more. It can also generate art, music, and ideas. AI has seeped not just into our lives through mobiles, but it is now extending to nearly every aspect of our lives. Healthcare, education, transportation, communication, automation, and even the smallest of household tasks have been impacted by AI. With AI machines becoming more sophisticated and integrated into human lives and society, most things seem to be on the brink of radical transformation. These systems that are so intelligent and can teach themselves, are evolving and making decisions that were once a human-only capability.
How does AI Work?
To understand how AI works, we need to first comprehend its building blocks. Let’s start with data. In order to perform any and every task that you want, AI requires a vast amount of data. It is through this data that it generates the output. The data can be text, videos, images, numbers, etc. It then needs an algorithm, which is essentially a list of instructions that helps it process this vast amount of data and produce a coherent output that makes sense. Machine learning is an integral part of AI as it teaches the computer to identify patterns from data. This identification helps it to improve its output without any programming whatsoever. The next essential part is the neural networks. These are essentially the brain of AI. The neural network models are inspired by the human brain. Like neurons in the human brain, it consists of layers of artificial neurons. It works by first receiving the raw data, which is then processed through the weighted connections between the neurons. Each layer of the network extracts different levels of information. For example, if you provide it with an image, the layers start detecting the simplest things at first, like the lines around the image. These lines then form shapes, which helps it to further improve its prediction. Finally, it recognises the full image. After this, the answer is provided to you. If you are using a chatbot, you will get the output in a word or a sentence.
The Rise of Generative AI
Machines in the past were used to do the technical tasks, and everything creative was only associated with the human brain. However, Generative AI marks the beginning of a new era where it has been able to create all types of content by learning and taking information from large datasets. With its rise in 2022, the general public has also widely used it. Some of its widely used applications include ChatGPT, DeepSeek, and Gemini, where they produce stories, articles, and poems based on a prompt. Some of their other applications include text translation for seamless communication, code generation, where AI generates the code following the prompt from the developers, and DALL-E, Flux, and Midjourney produce original images. From images, codes, and videos to even music, AI does everything. But a key point is that to develop these generative models, a lot of money is required to fulfil the computing power. The data through which these models are trained also needs to be stored. ChatGPT, which at this point is used by most, uses the Generative Pre-trained Transformer (GPT) and is trained from heaps of resources available like articles, blogs, and books.
Is AI Stealing Information?
The question then arises: is AI ethical? The data that is used to train these models utilises the information without giving any credit to their respective owners. Even though these resources are already available in the public domain, isn’t it the responsibility of these big companies to use information ethically? AI also comes with its biases. A text taken from a historical book might not sit well in today’s context. So is AI providing us with information or just stealing information and reiterating it back to us?
Future of Superintelligence: AGI and ASI
As AI has made its place in every part of our lives, the next stage of AI development is AGI (Artificial General Intelligence). In this stage, machines could think, learn, and make decisions on their own. The positive aspect of AGI is that it could transform human life by solving diseases, poverty, and other problems. However, the downside is that it could outthink humans. The latest development beyond AGI is ASI (Artificial Superintelligence). One of the greatest risks of ASI is that it could surpass human intelligence in every way imaginable. It could think, reason, and make innovations far beyond the imagination and capacity of humans. While AGI still needed humans, ASI has the power to be completely autonomous. A huge threat of ASI is that it could manipulate information and even thwart human efforts to shut it down. This is why many AI experts, including Elon Musk, have warned that intelligence without wisdom could be dangerous. There have also been advancements in AI-powered robots. They are becoming more autonomous, adaptable, and human-like. Tesla’s Optimus robot is designed to assist in everyday tasks, while Boston Dynamics’ humanoid robots can run, jump, and even perform backflips. AI-driven drones and machines are already used in military operations, manufacturing, and healthcare. With these advancements, the scenario of robots replacing human jobs becomes clearer.
The Threat to Human Creativity
It is clear that AI machines will probably take over most of the labour-based work. This could be a significant problem for the working class whose livelihood depends on labour. But, it’s not just these jobs that AI is after. With exponential advancements, AI is now able to write all forms of content, including stories, articles, news, advertisements, and even compose music and create art. AI is now after human creativity. If AI is better than us in these creative fields while being faster and cheaper, will human creativity have any value left, or will it become completely obsolete? Some might argue that art created from the experience of a person is far more valuable than any AI-generated content. This is a valid response; however, with learning models improving at unimaginable speeds, AI could completely redefine creativity, leaving us far behind.
The Final Question
AI is no longer something we read about in science fiction; it is here, ever-evolving and reshaping the world as we see it. It holds the power to be the force that changes human lives for the greater good or it could turn into our worst nightmare. It could be a force that could heal the sick, end hunger, and unlock infinite possibilities, or one that could enslave minds, destroy livelihoods, and outthink its own creators. The difference between these two futures isn’t in the technology itself—but in how we choose to use it.
Will AI be the key to a golden age of knowledge, technological advancement, and boundless creativity, or will it push us towards the greatest pitfalls from which we can never recover? These questions will be answered in the future with the choices we make today.