Artificial intelligence is a limitless abyss, a bottomless chasm full of unknowns, yet the world is pursuing it. On February 20th, I attended the online seminar “What is an AI Anyways”. The video discusses the capabilities of AI and how AI will develop in the future. His talk explored the evolutions of AI, and its potential to become a digital species, and considered possible ethical challenges humans may face in the future. This web seminar is interesting, insightful, and relevant to the field of information studies and technology.
At the beginning of the web seminar, Suleyman speaks about how AI can be traced through history. From its early lineage of beating humans in chess, and then from then on, the ever-growing capabilities of creativity, empathy, and critical thinking skills. Highlighting how understanding where AI comes from is important in understanding where it may be headed. This is relevant to the field of information studies since it must be due to data, and the computations of such data, data is vital for AI, which even more emphasizes the importance of understanding and studying information.
The article “Explicating AI Literacy of Employees at Digital Workplaces” explores the concept of how employees may need to be literate when it comes to interacting with AI. This article was chosen because it supports how as AI grows, and becomes more incorporated within the work environment, people must adopt the skills necessary to understand and work with AI. Additionally, “While AI technologies offer the potential for significantly higher productivity and job creation, they could also lead to diminishing employment rates and substantial changes in the roles available to humans in the workplace” (Cetindamar, 2022, p.1). This relates to the online seminar because it talks about the real potential of AI and the ethical implications that it can have in the workplace. That is why it is so important to understand the future of AI so that when this time comes there is a solution to tackle these challenges. Thinking ahead so that society is prepared to implement AI. “For example, studies by Teece and Jaiswall draw attention to the need for continuous lifelong learning, as people are exposed to information, interact, learn and make decisions in a rapidly changing environment.” This means that being exposed to information throughout a person's life can be important when adapting to the capabilities of AI. This highlights the need for future research into policy development within the AI area. Additionally, giving insights into the importance of AI literacy and the challenges or opportunities associated with AI.
In the next section of the video, Suleyman talks about how AI has increasingly automated routines and can serve as a collaborative tool, rather than a replacement for human workers. For example, AI could be a companion one that collaborates with its users in applications such as healthcare, cybersecurity, learning tools, and even data management. On the ethics side, as AI further develops there is a growing concern about bias, accountability, and job displacement.
The article “Managing Workplace AI Risks and the Future of Work” relates to information studies and technology since it explores the risks associated with AI adoption within workplaces. They are categorized into physical, mental, economic, and ethical hazards. For example, AI systems are trained on data hence if the data is biased, it can pose a hazard when making evaluations. Again, this article also highlights how AI is developing rapidly. This makes it aware to recognize the risks associated with it within the workplace. “The “black-box” nature of AI systems poses challenges to users in understanding their underlying decision-making process. A lack of AI explainability degrades trust in AI's operations and outcomes” (Howard, 2024, p. 18). This illustrates how there are still a lot of unknowns about AI systems and the possible challenges they may bring upon implementation. Therefore, it is important to manage AI risks, which also means that people may be trained to better manage these AI systems. This way they can safely adapt and apply AI to their workforce. “The European Union (EU) and the US have published several guidelines to ensure AI safety.” This means that governments have already been working on developing how AI can be effectively used so that it is safe.
In conclusion, AI is advancing rapidly, and there are a lot of risks and benefits. However, it is important to understand what it truly is. It is not something that should replace everyone and everything. As AI continues to transform the workplace, the world must recognize how to deploy and utilize AI systems. Harnessing the power and potential of AI to create a better future for society.
Resources
Cetindamar, D., Kitto, K., Wu, M., Zhang, Y., Abedin, B., & Knight, S. (2024). Explicating AI Literacy of Employees at Digital Workplaces. IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, 71, 810–823. https://doi.org/10.1109/TEM.2021.3138503
Howard, J., & Schulte, P. (2024). Managing workplace AI risks and the future of work. American Journal of Industrial Medicine, 67(11), 980–993. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajim.23653
Suleyman, M. (2024, April 22). What is an AI anyway? [Video]. TED. https://www.ted.com/talks/mustafa_suleyman_what_is_an_ai_anyway