Should we be extremely excited or seriously alarmed by the rapid progress being

made in the fields of artificial intelligence? (Science and tech package qn , HCI 2015)
Stand: While it is true that artificial intelligence has the potential to end the human
race and terrorise us, it is also undeniable that these problems can be alleviated and
that artificial intelligence also improves the human quality of life and compensates for
our innate imperfections. Hence while we should not be excited at an extreme level
as problems comes naturally with any innovation , there is no need to be seriously
alarmed by the rapid progress being made in the fields of robot and artificial
intelligence.
Arguments against Artificial Intelligence rising (counter arguments)
1. End of human race argument from Unabomber 1s Manifesto, his view is
affirmed by Bill Joy and Raymond Kurzweil- required as he is a criminal and
insane so it would be morally wrong of me to use his words without saying
that there are rational experts backing it up.
A cursory examination of the topic at hand would indubitably draw ones
attention to the argument that the rise of artificial intelligence will ultimately
spell the end of the human race. Unabombers manifesto asks us to
postulate that the computer scientists succeed in developing intelligent
machines that can do all things better than human beings can do them. In
that case presumably all work will be done by vast, highly organized
systems of machines and no human effort will be necessary. Two
possibilities can be inferred from here machines are allowed to make
their decisions autonomously, without human oversight; or human control
is retained. If the first one happens then human beings will lose all control
as turning off machines will end the human race as by then our
metabolisms will be entirely dependent on the machines. If the other
happens, the machines will be in the hands of a tiny elite just as it is
today, but with two difference. One because human work will no longer
be necessary thus the human population will cease to be superfluous a
useless burden to the society. Two, according the Unabomber, we might
be exterminated or turned into the equivalence of domestic animals. If AI
continues, the human race is doomed thus the advance of AI should be
halted. Hence we should be seriously alarmed by the rapid progress in
artificial intelligence as perhaps it will replace us in the future. (This
argument is from a research paper, Ethical Robots: The Future Can Heed
Us.)
What is wrong with this argument is that it is a slippery slope one in the
sense that the conjunction that intelligent machines will exceed us in all
regards, and no human effort will be expended for anything is already
fallacious, let alone the notion that the elites will exterminate the human
1 Ted Kaczynski is a domestic terrorist who opposed industrialization and modern
technology and showed this by engaging in a nationwide bombing campaign
against people involved with modern technology, planting
or mailing numerous homemade bombs, ultimately killing a total of three people
and injuring 23 others.

race. First and foremost, there are certain things that machines will never
be able to do as how a human does it or do it at all in the first place. The
nature of robots/machines is that it has no free will such that it can freely
think or feel anything and in fact what it experiences due to computer
programming, is not even real to begin with. As technology progresses
rapidly, so does the requirements of jobs in todays context. Robots can
never demonstrate unique human abilities such as creativity, empathy and
critical thinking and problem solving with the element of contextual
flexibility attached to it, as demanded in more advanced jobs. Granted that
machines are able to take over certain low-skilled jobs today but that is
about it. In fact, Murray Shanahan, a cognitive robotics professor working
at the Imperial College noted that human-level artificial intelligence that
could have any possibilities of competing with the complexities of the
human brain would not be possible within the next decade or so. There is
therefore no possibility of it operating autonomously independently too.
Secondly, it is highly unlikely that humans will allows themselves to be
displaced by machines and that to, to such an extreme extent. The whole
idea sounds like a very fitting plot for a sci-fi movie, thereby accentuating
the unlikelihood of such a thing happening in reality. Hence there is really
no reason for us to shy away vehemently from the idea of research into
artificial intelligence triumphing. (I dont really have an evidence/example
for the humans will never allow themselves to be replaced part as its more
of a concept? The nature of human beings. From P & D, we can already
see that there are issues like racial disputes, gender inequality so the last
thing that human beings will expose themselves to is being discriminated
against by robots.)
2. Some may argue that artificial Intelligence, if not behaved ethically or used
unethically, is dangerous to mankind thus we should be extremely caution of
its advancements. Billy Joy, an American computer scientist, argues that the
most compelling 21st-century technologies- robotics, genetic engineering, and
nanotechnology pose a different threat than the technologies that have come
before, which is that they share a dangerous amplifying factor they can selfreplicate. His idea is not science-fiction as self-replicating robots are quite
possible, at the level of Turing machines, as credited by researcher John Von
Neumann in 1996. However, the notion that some company in the business of
building humanoid robots is going to lose control of its manufacturing facility,
and the robots are going to multiply out of control, so that they end up
squeezing us out of the world and terrorizing us in the process is flawed. It
just sounds like a B-grade horror movie with no explanation of how it is going
to happen in the first place. However, having said that, one cannot overlook
the fact that the abovementioned counter only follows as machines cannot
self-replicate itself and harm people on its own verdict. But people can take
advantage of what an intelligent machine can do and use it to inflict harm on
others. ( I dont know how to rebut this point above as I want my stand to be
for Artificial Intelligence , can I say that , Even so , it is highly unlikely that
would happen as there are laws and regulation put in place to deter anyone
from misusing such intelligent machines.)

Arguments for Artificial Intelligence rising (supporting arguments)

1. We should be extremely excited by the rapid progress in the fields of
artificial technology as it has the ability to improve the quality of life, as
evident with its use in the medical field today and other therapeutic
purposes. Hence it is reasonable to say that with time and more
advancements it can further enhance the human quality of life.
For instance, algorithms can help doctors assess patient and their health
risks. It can help them know the side effects that various medications can
have. In fact surgery simulators use machine intelligence in training
medical professionals. Artificial intelligence can be used to simulate brain
functioning, and thus prove useful in the diagnosis and treatment of
neurological problems. . As in case of any other field, repetitive or timeconsuming tasks can be managed through the application of artificial
intelligence. Moreover, robotic radiosurgery helps achieve precision in the
radiation given to tumours, thus reducing the damage to surrounding
tissues. Furthermore robotic pets can help patients with depression and
also keep them active. All the above mentioned examples shows how
artificial intelligence complements our daily life and improves the quality of
it. Hence we should look forward to more progress into it and be excited at
the prospect of it happening.
2. Artificial Intelligence helps to overcome the limitations that we human
beings inherently possess. Intelligent robots can be used to explore space
in place of us. The robots are machine and hence can be engineered in
such a way that can have the ability to endure the hostile environment of
the interplanetary space. They can be made to adapt in such a way that
planetary atmospheres do not affect their physical state and functioning.
This does not necessarily mean that the robot take over our work as the
critical thinking and problem solving would still be done by the engineers,
In fact this adds on as a complement as space researches do not have to
continuously spend years in space to and fro to carry out their research.
They can be in the comforts of their office and process the information
received from the robots in the space. Intelligent robots can also be
programmed to reach the Earth's nadirs. They can be used to dig for fuels,
mining purposes and be harnessed for exploring the depths of oceans.
Thus, these machines can be of use in overcoming the limitations that
humans have thereby highlighting to us that we should indeed be thrilled in
anticipation for the further progress of artificial intelligence.