Planet of the Apps: Experts warn of a tech take-over as robots with artificial intelligence seize control
Planet of the Apps: Experts warn of a tech take-over as
robots with artificial intelligence seize control
Written by Russell Blackstock, 02 January 2018
THEY listen, they talk and very soon, according to some
experts, they will be taking over our homes, our jobs and our lives.
Thousands of us unwrapped voice-activated electronic
devices on Christmas Day.
Amazon’s Alexa service, Apple’s Home Pod and Google’s
Home speakers were among the best-sellers.
Recognising the human voice, the gadgets can play music,
search the web, shop online, check the weather and even switch on the lights or
control the central heating.
But while we are getting to grips with our new
interactive electronics, a report last week sounded alarm bells over the
implications of rapidly improving artificial intelligence.
The study, from the Institute for Public Policy Research
(IPPR) warns of thousands of jobs being lost to robots – with those on lowest
wages likely to be hardest hit.
Around 44% of jobs accounting for about £290 million in
wages risk being automated in the coming decades – mostly in low-paid sectors
such as call centres, offices and factories.
Mathew Lawrence, a senior researcher at the IPPR, said:
“Managed badly, the benefits of automation could be narrowly concentrated,
benefiting those who own capital. Inequality would spiral.”
Now the think tank is calling on governments to examine
ways of spreading the benefits of automation throughout society.
IPPR research fellow Carys Roberts said: “To avoid
inequality rising, the Government should look at ways to spread capital
ownership and make sure everyone benefits from increased automation.”
Unite, Britain’s biggest union, said coping with advances
in technology was nothing new for workers in the manufacturing sector in
particular – but stressed the Government needs to invest in retraining people
as automation increases.
They said: “We have seen in previous industrial
revolutions, in the likes of the steel and other heavy industries, that whole
communities can be left behind by new technology and this cannot happen again.”
Scottish Engineering chief executive Bryan Buchan has a
much more positive view of what robots will bring to the workplace.
He said: “The evidence is that automation doesn’t cost
jobs but it changes jobs. These things are quite advanced in terms of robotics
and they don’t need guards around them so humans can work alongside them.
“They are using ‘cobots’ on the Mini assembly lines now
at Oxford. Fundamentally the ‘cobot’ does the horrible, repetitive jobs that
humans don’t like doing.”
The UK is one of the best prepared countries in the world
to benefit from artificial intelligence, rather than lose out.
This month, the AI Readiness Index – by the Oxford
Insights Team – put the UK in top place out of the world’s 35 most advanced
countries – beating the US into second spot. But not all human jobs are under
immediate threat from robots. Plumbers, electricians and nurses will stay in
employment the longest, according to artificial intelligence expert and author
Martin Ford.
“One area that is safe for people is the kind of job that
requires a lot of dexterity, hand-eye coordination and flexibility,” he said.
But will the robots we are creating one day enslave us?
It is a question that increasingly troubles many
scientists and tech entrepreneurs.
Oxford professor Michael Woolridge has warned MPs
artificial intelligence could go ‘rogue’.
He said the machines might become so complex that the
engineers who create them will no longer understand them or be able to predict
how they function.
If that sounds far-fetched, consider this: A few weeks
ago a robot called AlphaZero taught itself how to play chess in four hours –
then it beat a grandmaster with moves never seen in the game’s history.
The robot was given the rules and instructed to learn how
to win by playing against itself. In doing so it amassed centuries of chess
knowledge and tactics then went on to surpass all previous human ingenuity in
the game.
Back in our homes, the computers have already begun their
quiet revolution.
Videos have appeared on the internet showing voice
activated devices from different manufacturers starting to talk to each other.
Amazon’s Alexa – the voice of its Echo system – asks
Apple’s Siri a question. Siri answers and then asks Google’s Home, which
answers before addressing Alexa.
And so it goes on in a continuous babbling loop, with
little or no human input required.
It’s all a bit of fun… isn’t it?
Just as horses were gradually made obsolete by the car,
humans’ jobs have also been affected by changing technology throughout modern
history.
The Industrial Revolution of the 1700s saw hand
production methods replaced by machines and heralded the rise of the factory
system.
In recent times, it is the internet which has had the
biggest impact on jobs – leading to a sharp decline in retail positions as
increasing numbers of people shopped online.
Self-service tills at supermarkets and department stores
have also led to a rapid decline in the numbers of shop workers.
Another job we have seen begin to disappear is the bank
teller. The arrival of ATM machines in the 1970s signalled the start of the
decline. Banks in Scotland have closed more than 140 branches this year at the
cost of hundreds of jobs as more people head online to bank.
Other jobs that have largely fallen by the wayside in
recent times due to automation and artificial intelligence include petrol pump
operators, car park attendants and telephone switchboard operators, plus postal
service mail sorters and sewing machine operators. Scientists, including
Stephen Hawking, have argued that it may only be a matter of time before
artificial intelligence turns on mankind.
Hawking has said he believes development of full
artificial intelligence could “spell the end of the human race”.
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