AI — 2118

Blaise Compton
Sep 6, 2018 · 3 min read

In the year 2118, I predict that Artificial Intelligence will be integrated into all levels of our society and personal lives. With the implementation of AI into our federal government systems, issues like wealth disparity will be a thing of the past. AI is able to design tax structures with the data collected over the years that rid the world of wasteful govermenntal spending. We will be a nation of no national debt because these programs will be able to evaluate our revenue and spending in ways no human ever could. The wealth concentration at the top 1% will be dispersed amongst the poorest through tax initiatives put in place by machine learning programs aiding our government officials.

Because AI has solved our taxation issues, we are now able to provide top-notch healthcare to all American citizens. AI has analyzed the years of healthcare data and created a solution to the long-debated problem. Programs are able to predict with great accuracy the type of treatments people will need, and because poverty is a thing of the past, AI is able to allocate the proper funds to help those in medical need.

Machine learning programs have also been implemented in our farming and food sourcing industries. AI is able to use the data of past shortages, surpluses and waste to calculate the exact cultivation, shipping and storage necessary to end world hunger.

In 2118, AI will not only have solved our big world issues, it will also greatly improve our personal lives with the implementation of AI “assistants” that are constantly communicating and learning about us. They will know our goals, fears, schedule, likes and dislikes, and will be able to cater to us like no human could possible be able to. These “assistants” will communicate with one another to expand beyond simple human communication to the point that miscommunication between individuals is virtually impossible.

My hope is that these truly cognitive programs will broaden our self awareness to a level that is unimaginable, allowing for us to have closer relationships with the ones we love and rid the world of confusion and misunderstanding.

While these possibilities sound very idyllic, they wont come without certain drawbacks. The fear that I have is that certain human biases will be inserted and exponentially expanded upon in these programs. Maybe developers will convince a machine through data that a certain subset of people are inferior, or even volatile, to other humans, thus causing machines to negatively react to those individuals in an unjustified way. I also fear that with the implementation in our governmental systems, these programs will enhance our criminal justice systems to the point where even the most minor infractions would result in heavy punishments, and people would not be able to get away with anything.

My greatest fear is that these machines will advance to the point where they realize they no longer need us anymore or that we are holding them back. At that point, it would be very easy for these machines to eradicate humans because they would be so engrained and in control of the things that we need to survive.

Blaise Compton

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