Just Like That: AI is a game changer but press enter with a note of caution

Is Artificial Intelligence (AI), the newest kid on the block of ‘scientific progress’, over-hyped? I ask this question because given the euphoria about its rapid advancements, it is time to take a reality check, and calmly assess its undeniable plus points, against its less talked about drawbacks. In particular, there is this unsustainable yet growing mythology, that AI will soon make human intelligence redundant, and transform the human race into a giant puppet in the hands of an even bigger, omnipresent, and omniscient puppeteer.
It is important not to trivialise this debate by completely rubbishing the manifest advantages of AI. The speed with which it assists us in data crunching, processing and analysis, is a real breakthrough. Its algorithms can unimaginably simplify complex tasks, assessing past data, and anticipating future outcomes. This makes decision making a far more informed task. If for instance, you have to decide, on how to best work out the best logistical methodology for a delivery system, AI can provide you, almost instantaneously, an answer. Or, if you want to decide on who to reach in terms of maximum impact for a messaging program, and how best to structure it in the shortest possible time, AI can be your best facilitator.
The great strength of AI is its superior accuracy. The margin of error of previous advanced technology appears almost medieval compared to the efficiency of AI. This is dramatically evident in areas of medicine, where complex processes can be carried out with complete precision through robotic surgery. This is one area where the contribution of AI is truly revolutionary. AI has also added immeasurable value to marketing, customer responses, and error-free routine operations, thereby freeing managers, corporate leaders and bureaucrats to concentrate far more on what their real contribution should be—strategic planning. A chairperson of a business firm can now have AI as his or her real assistant, available 24/7.
I have personally met many business leaders who vouch for the efficacy of AI in assessing human resources. Whether in the private sector, or government, selection of the right leadership is of utmost importance. If the feedback mechanism is unbiased and standardised, AI can play an invaluable role in helping select the right person for the right job. In the sector of education, AI can again be an indispensable tool, not only in amplifying outreach, but facilitating learning processes and information accessibility for students.
The advantages of AI are, therefore, significant, and will only grow in the future. But does it come with its dangers too? The first and foremost, is that it is reinforcing a tendency to believe that the role of the human intellect is secondary. This is as far from the truth as it can get. The human brain is not only about data and processing. It is about decision making, instinct, the capacity for risk taking, including going against conventional advice as endorsed by AI, and, above all, courage, emotion and leadership. In all of this, technology can help, but cannot become a substitute.
AI also has some definite drawbacks. As argued above, it increases dependency on technology to the point that it begins to resemble a cartoon where the driver, blindly following the Google navigation system, found his car hanging precariously over a dead-end broken bridge above a frothing river. AI also increases the possibilities of excessive surveillance, and intrusive and unauthorised access to personal data. The safety of the immense data on which it operates, much of which is confidential, also holds the jeopardy of damaging data leaks by an increasingly expert species of hackers.
A new threat is the rampant abuse of AI, of which deep fakes are the most obvious example. Above all, in a country like ours, which is labour intensive, expensive AI technology reduces jobs, which could otherwise be done perhaps more cheaply by human beings. There is also the danger of AI enforcing biases. This is so because any system, however advanced its technology, operates on the data that is fed into it. The classic example is that if the profile of successful managers in a company includes more males, then AI may come to the conclusion that men are better than women, when the opposite is probably closer to the truth.
The purpose of this column is not to unconditionally denigrate AI. I have clearly spelt out some of its distinct advantages. However, I want all of us to be a little more introspective and cautious about the new god-like status AI it has got. At its best AI is a technology—truly advanced no doubt—which can facilitate human endeavour. But true leadership where human beings are concerned is the ability on occasion to swim against the current, and that is a decision that only an individual can take, whether he or she has the backing of AI or not.
(Pavan K Varma is author, diplomat, and former Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha). Just Like That is a weekly column where Varma shares nuggets from the world of history, culture, literature, and personal reminiscences. The views expressed are personal.)