Technology is essential for the development of the individual and of society. Development is an all-encompassing process, meaning that it includes the physical, mental, and spiritual well-being of all people. When technology is channeled properly it can help humanity to achieve prosperity.
Human beings exist to carry forward an ever-advancing civilization. Technology has made possible the interconnectedness of the world and this is evident in how the nations and people are interdependent.
Societies are being transformed by digital technologies, especially by artificial intelligence, that is rapidly changing how we live and work. But this transformation is troubling because these technologies haven’t always helped to grow societies and even worse the extremes of wealth and poverty are still apparent. New digital technologies are exacerbating inequality, and there is a lack of diversity among those who create the programs, and that is causing major harm for underprivileged people in our societies. When technology reflects biases in the real world, it leads to discrimination and unequal treatment in all areas of life, for example in the area of employment among others.
If Artificial Intelligence (AI) outruns the social and moral progress of man, it will cause great harm and threaten the survival of the human race. Changes in technology and in the way society is organized have made the tech ecosystem less and less diverse. Many believe that this technological change has contributed to increased prosperity. But, in many societies of the world, this change has contributed to increased poverty and has widened the gap between the rich and poor. AI has potentially contributed to economic inequality by disproportionally benefiting wealthy individuals and corporations. Job losses due to AI-driven automation are more likely to affect low-skilled workers, leading to a growing income gap and reduced opportunities for social mobility.
The concentration of AI development and ownership within a small number of individuals, large corporations and governments can exacerbate this inequality as they accumulate wealth and power while excluded societies and smaller businesses struggle to compete. Advances in AI have been impressive, leading to innovations such as driverless cars to human-like language models. However, guiding the trajectory of the technology is critical. Because of the choices that researchers and businesses have made so far, new digital technologies have created vast wealth for those owning and inventing them, while too often destroying opportunities for those in jobs vulnerable to being replaced. These inventions have generated good tech jobs in a handful of cities while much of the rest of the population has been left behind. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
A diverse community would be better equipped to anticipate, review, and spot bias and engage communities affected. This will require investments in education and opportunities focused on developing a diverse and inclusive pipeline of AI talent in under-represented communities through education and participation. AI systems can inadvertently perpetuate or amplify societal biases due to biased training data or algorithmic design. To minimize discrimination and ensure fairness, it is crucial to invest in the development of unbiased algorithms and diverse training data sets.
Instilling moral and ethical values in AI systems development presents a considerable challenge and therefore, eliminating bias and inequality is everyone’s responsibility. Biased AI technologies reduce people’s ability to participate in the economy and society. It reduces the potential of AI for society by encouraging mistrust and producing distorted results. Tech developers and users need to ensure that the AI systems deployed improve on human decision-making, and they have a responsibility to encourage progress on participatory research, development and standards that will reduce bias in AI.
The Remedy
A permanent solution to technological problems is elusive and distant at this present moment. All efforts at development, including those using technology, will have only temporary effect unless the basic problem of our age, the disunity of the peoples of the world, is first recognized, its fundamental cause understood, and its expression in individual and social behavior eliminated. The establishment of unity among peoples of all backgrounds is a paramount condition for the progress of all individuals and societies. The tech development process should employ technology first of all to fully reflect the fundamental organic oneness of humanity, by helping to abolish all prejudice and divisiveness, whether of class, creed, sex, race, or nationality.
We as agents of change
If correctly employed, AI technology can lead to the betterment of the human race, to the development of human qualities, abilities and to an understanding of the human mind. It has the potential to eradicate poverty, enrich humanity, and free it from the struggle for existence and it is through technology that we can understand the potential of existing resources and learn to develop this natural heritage for everyone and future generations. Unfortunately, technology can be perfect instruments of war, support the concentration and abuse of power, undermine social and cultural values, and endanger the existence of mankind. AI technology is not sufficient by itself to guarantee progress. It must be directed by noble aims and values of the society it is intended to serve.
To eliminate obstacles in the application and development of technology, individual developers and users must possess noble values and high aims. Then they will immediately see the priority needed for development and will want to apply their knowledge in service of humanity. Everyone should participate in the appropriate transfer of technology, contribute to innovative solutions, and naturally bring about the integration of morality into tech development.
Much of the difficulty in applying moral values to tech development has come from the failure to link technology with basic human values upon which each society is built. AI technologies cannot by themselves solve all human problems; they are tools to be used or abused depending on social, economic, and political factors. If sustainable tech development is to occur, moral values must be brought into consideration. Ensuring AI technology is free of bias will have to go beyond just a conversation on AI, it will require societal structures, discourses and educational systems to be shaped so as to reflect the unity and diversity of humanity.
Reflections
Increasing reliance on AI-driven communication and interactions could lead to diminished empathy, social skills, and human connections.
How can we maintain a balance between technology and human interaction and preserve the essence of our social nature?
Over Reliance on AI systems may lead to a loss of creativity, critical thinking skills, and human intuition.
How can we strike a balance between AI-assisted decision-making and human input in order to preserve our cognitive abilities?
Incidences involving interactions between people and AI technologies, raise a host of ethical questions.
What moral obligations do the developers have to prevent their product from harming a human life?
Who is responsible for the harm? The person using the technology? The company that created the technology? The designers of the AI system, or even the manufacturers of its onboard sensory equipment?
AI technology should be pursued to improve human life, and have as its conscious and ultimate goal the establishment of prosperity for the human race.
Why are these technologies failing to produce more economic growth in our societies? Why aren’t they creating more widespread prosperity?
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