Artificial Intelligence is a Problem or an Opportunity for People?

Artificial intelligence - Advantages and disadvantages

New technologies change the world year after year, but it looks like Artificial Intelligence (AI) makes the greatest impact of them all. The reason is simple: AI has unlimited application abilities, and it keeps improving over time.

As such, intelligent systems give us a plethora of practical benefits and simplify our everyday lives. But is it all there is to say about AI? Does it have positive implications only? The truth is that AI also brings us a few side effects, which turns out to be a problem for people.

In this post, we will present you with the key stats and facts about AI and show you the most important pros and cons of this tech concept. Let’s begin!

Pros and Cons of AI

The global AI software market should reach more than $22 billion by the end of 2020, but the figure will keep booming in the years to come. Smart technologies are obviously winning over the world, particularly if you know that almost 80% of the devices we use feature one form of AI or another.

AI is not a trend anymore, but rather a widely accepted IT principle that dominates modern technologies. The key issue is to separate the positive aspects of AI from its less positive features, so let’s check out the pros of intelligent machines.

AI reduces error rates in business operations

One of the major reasons we rely on AI is the reduction of error rates in people’s everyday business operations. Namely, AI can perform certain tasks much more accurately than human beings. 

If you don’t believe us, just think about a simple AI-powered tool like a calculator. It would probably take you a couple of minutes to multiply several four-digit numbers, while AI does it almost instantly. And unlike humans, AI will not make a mistake regardless of the number of calculations.

AI is available 24/7

Another benefit we get from AI is its 24/7 availability. Smart machines don’t eat, sleep, take breaks, and vacations. If you need them, they are always there to help you out.

For instance, studies show that 85% of all customer interactions are already being handled without a human agent. This is possible because of AI powers, chatbots, automated tools programmed for live customer support.

AI saves time and money

If you think about the customer service example we mentioned above, you will realize that AI also helps companies to save time and money. Instead of hiring dozens of customer service agents, a business can simply deploy chatbots technology and enable around the clock service for all of its clients.

The same logic applies to many other fields of work, including inventory management, financial services, online retails, and so on.

AI improves decision-making

According to the survey, nearly half of business executives believe that the most important benefit of AI is providing data that can be used to make decisions. How come?

Intelligent systems are able to collect, categorize, and analyze data extremely quickly. You could be struggling with a simple Excel spreadsheet for days, while AI would easily extrapolate relevant information from millions of similar files within seconds.

In such circumstances, it is clear why companies use AI-driven insights to solidify their decision-making abilities.

Voice assistants make our lives more convenient

AI has entered the personal assistance realm a long time ago, so now you can use a variety of voice commands on your smartphone or any other type of device. Voice assistants such as Cortana and Siri are getting increasingly popular among consumers worldwide.

These tools make people’s lives more convenient because they can browse the Internet and perform many other actions faster.

A variety of applications

Finally, we must mention that it’s impossible to count the number of AI applications. The technology is so omnipotent that it successfully supports and augments everything from healthcare and agriculture to engineering and banking. Thanks to AI, the quality of our personal and professional operations keeps growing steadily. 

You can see that AI is a very useful tech concept, but how about its downsides? Check out the negative aspects of AI and learn the implications it has on our daily habits and routines.

Unemployment

The question of all questions in 2020 is: Will AI leave us all unemployed? Some reports suggest that over 30 million U.S. workers will lose their jobs because of AI. 

It’s a staggering figure that could completely change the employment landscape in the next few years. Given the fact that intelligent machines can automate the vast majority of repetitive and manual tasks, we can expect them to drastically reduce the number of jobs in the years to come.

AI eliminates creativity

Almost 30% of customers claim that the human touch is still needed to get the job done successfully. But if we leave it all up to AI, can we really expect any kind of human interaction and creativity in our world? 

The answer is likely “No” as we are witnessing the downfall of abstract thinking, human impact, and creativity. If AI continues to dominate the world, it will all come down to tasks, metrics, KPIs, and deliverables.

AI is an expensive investment

The reason why AI is still not taking over 100% of business activities is two-fold. Firstly, the technology is still in the early stages and it will take more time for it to progress and reach the necessary level of intelligence. 

Secondly, AI represents a very expensive investment. Not everyone can afford to deploy AI-based technologies, so it remains the privilege of the rich.

The Bottom Line

AI is changing our lives for the better, but it still represents a two-fold phenomenon and has a few negative implications as well. In this article, we analyzed the pros and cons of AI. 

The bottom line is that AI gives more than it takes, but we have to be careful enough not to let it run out of control. After all, intelligent machines are made to serve human beings and not the other way around.

Pros and Cons of Artificial Intelligence
Advantages and Disadvantages of Artificial Intelligence

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