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Artificial intelligence

Impact of AI.

AI ultimately affects all industries more or less heavily. AI or specific forms of it,
such as machine learning (ML), can be used in a wide variety of application
scenarios. First and foremost, they will be increasingly found in areas where large
amounts of data need to be analyzed and evaluated. AI systems are better
equipped than humans for analyzing massive amounts of data, correlating the
data with various reference points and thus to create a better base for decision
making.

AI has already entered many areas of our working and private lives. Already
classic examples of this are Alexa or Siri. By means of smart algorithms, machines
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today are capable of doing incredible things with facial and speech recognition.
With error rates of under five percent, many systems can perform better than
humans. In image recognition, which is also used on Facebook or in self-driving
cars, computers are now far superior to humans. And online retailers or search
engines, for example, use ML to optimize the user experience and to create
buying recommendations. In short, AI and ML are already fixed – and also largely
accepted – components of our day to day lives. The impact of AI, when it comes
to our working environments, AI, ML and digitalization bring a significant sea
change, as they alter or expand the human activity spectrum. This means
employees’ work profiles and what is required of them will change considerably.
A typical example is industries where more and more machines and robots are
used, such as the manufacturing industry.

AI brings risks

With regard to the use of AI, there are two principal risk categories: on the one
hand, there are risks connected with society and humans and, on the other hand,
there is a risk of dependence on technology. Many are concerned about
machines and AI taking over human activities. This is not just about apocalyptic
fears and Terminator-like scenarios, which have also been cited repeatedly by
Tesla founder Elon Musk, but about more elementary, existential fears. People
ask themselves questions such as: How do I fit into the digital future when
intelligent robots take over my job? Do I still have the right skills? The older
generation especially is very skeptical about the technological development and
increasing use of smart machines.
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However, it should be remembered that the world of work will definitely
change. Jobs that are indispensable today may not be relevant in a few decades’
time. Currently, the impact of AI is seeing a great need for data scientists and
developers, but in a few years from now, machines might be able to do these
jobs better and faster. The technical development and the concerns of society
make it imperative to start socio-political initiatives that develop and implement
not only the technological opportunities but also educational and digital policies.
Without a concept, Britain will weaken its international competitiveness. The
second risk category concerns the question “What decision-making powers do
we give machines and AI?” There is a risk of becoming too dependent and unable
to reproduce how a machine or algorithm has come to a conclusion. Neural
networks, which have millions of connections and interactions, make decisions
that they cannot adequately explain due to a lack of communication skills and
the complexity of their “thought processes”. Machines are not emphatic
narrators, they know more than they tell us, and they do not understand our
information needs.

In any case, in some critical areas and rapid decision-making processes we will
eventually have to rely on information from machines – take for example the
decision that the immediate shutdown of a nuclear power plant is necessary,
since the complex trains of thought involved in such events cannot be traced and
understood fast enough by humans. It is also often overlooked that even
machines can have prejudices based on information from the past. An example
would be a recruiting system that supports the selection of optimal candidates
by analyzing thousands of historical decisions made by the company. If a
Artificial intelligence
recruiter in the past – for whatever reason – preferred men over women, then
this “prejudice” is also inherited by the machine and becomes part of the
algorithm. In addition, there are already AI applications today that develop their
own successors without human input, as in the example of Google’s AutoML
project. The impact of AI could mean it creates a dynamic that can no longer be
controlled, which is indeed disturbing. And, it stresses the urgent need for a
moral and ethical framework.

Impact of AI and cyber security

Before any use of AI technology, elementary questions must be answered. The


area of cyber security, which uses AI and ML for better threat recognition and
the prevention of financial or operational damage caused by cybercrime, is a
good example. Threat Detection and Threat Intelligence are the keywords here.
The following questions must be considered before AI is applied:

• What do I want to achieve?

• Which ML methods best support my goals (such as supervised learning,


unsupervised learning, decision trees, or deep learning)

• What impact does AI / ML have on my organization and employees?

• What risks might be created by the changes?

• How much decision-making power do I allow the machine?


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 Where and when do we expect human intervention?

Overall, industry and society are still at the beginning of the change process
brought about by AI and ML. New opportunities will drive innovation and
create new ideas. We will see mistakes, but also unexpected successes. However,
one thing must not be overlooked: The effects of AI are serious. Humanity,
according to the World Economic Forum, faces the fourth industrial revolution
– with social, economic and societal implications. Therefore, politics and business
must work together – here and now – to create the appropriate framework
conditions that will set the course for future generations.

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