Humans are an incredibly adaptable species. With the advent of livestock and domestic pets, for example, we invented new symbiotic relations that went on to define our civilization. Artificial intelligence as it exists today is already radically changing our economy, with computers usurping traditionally human professions and humans mobilizing to maintain them. If computers eventually become sentient, we will probably be quick to become more dependent on smart technology as a tool—and also to share a transactional relation with AI, akin to what we have with horses and dogs.

Hollywood would have you believe that AI is an existential threat to civilization. The real threat isn’t anything so dramatic. If humankind decides to accept artificial intelligence to further prosperity, it needs to reconcile that with also having to surrender countless responsibilities and social norms that define our current way of life.

—Nathan Biller, Colgate University, history and political science

It’s Time to Regulate AI

Sentience is a quality of beings with consciousness and feeling. Both are immaterial, which renders them impossible to measure. Scientists have not even reached a consensus on an adequate definition for consciousness—which makes ridiculous the notion that artificial intelligence, or any technological innovation for that matter, could attain such a state.

AI has contributed to the development of chatbots, facial-recognition programs and targeted advertising. The benefits to society are clear to see. But what if AI also had the potential to displace tens of millions of blue-collar workers? This is a stark reality to many families that cannot afford to be overlooked. Some careers that face severe risks of automation in the coming years include cashiers, receptionists and even pilots.

Because artificial intelligence poses a massive threat to both economic and social stability, the time has come for legislators to draw the line. AI has the potential to be as helpful, or as destructive, as we allow it to be.

—Peter Iossa, Pennsylvania State University, physics

We Must Be Prepared

The technology for artificial intelligence is shaping the human condition by acting as both a tool and a mirror. While AI has the potential for immense public good, including solutions to climate change and other social issues, an insufficient level of infrastructure and knowledge exists to support its rapid development. AI may magnify existing systemic injustices and biases on both an individual and collective scale. For example, a 2019 study published in Science found that an AI healthcare algorithm used to predict which patients needed extra care showed evidence of racial bias.

Abstract arguments about whether AI are sentient ignore the real impact artificial intelligence has on society. The Turing Test rests on whether an AI seems human, suggesting that the true impact of AI is the way it shapes how we perceive one another.

Take LaMDA, Google’s “Large Language Models” AI platform. The ability to replicate what seems like authentic human speech speaks to an innate aspect of the human experience, inciting empathy automatically. When a machine elicits empathy, it raises the question of whether that’s truly a sign of humanity, perhaps lowering our responsiveness to empathy toward real humans. Similar AI creations blur the boundaries of humanity, distorting our perceptions of ourselves.

That’s the most dangerous part. As machine learning and the development of artificial general intelligence continues to progress, we must not only be worried. We must be prepared for the very nature of humanity to come into question.

—Jenny Duan, Stanford University, symbolic systems

We Should Worry About Economic Collapse

Artificial intelligence and machine learning are phenomenal computational tools that, through pattern recognition, enable predictive capabilities. Crude versions are already available on cellphones and email applications.