Experts express worries about potential risks, particularly those associated with artificial intelligence. Technology leaders and AI specialists have likened these risks to pandemics or nuclear war in terms of urgency.
Experts express worries about potential risks, particularly those associated with artificial intelligence. Technology leaders and AI specialists have likened these risks to pandemics or nuclear war in terms of urgency.
Experts in artificial intelligence and technology have expressed both caution and optimism regarding the impact of AI on digital life by 2035, according to the results of a Pew Research Center canvassing study.
The study said that while the respondents predict that AI could bring significant benefits, such as advancements in healthcare, scientific progress, and education, they also raise serious concerns for individuals and society.
The experts in the research anticipate breakthroughs in health and education, including personalized medical care and AI-driven discourse. Wearable technology would enhance connectivity, while advancements in sustainability, climate action, and pollution prevention could make substantial progress, it added.
A total of 305 respondents answered the questions: “As you look ahead to the year 2035, what are the best and most beneficial changes that are likely to occur by then in digital technology and humans’ use of digital systems?” and “What are the most harmful or menacing changes likely to occur?”
In this new canvassing, experts express worries about potential risks, particularly those associated with artificial intelligence. Technology leaders and AI specialists have likened these risks to pandemics or nuclear war in terms of urgency.
Concerns arise from generative AI systems that produce erroneous and unexplainable results, raising fears of potential misuse to spread misinformation and deceive people.
Anxiety is mounting regarding the unstoppable speed and scope of digital technology. Some fear that it could enable blanket surveillance of populations and undermine democratic systems through deepfakes, misinformation, and harassment.
There are also widespread fears about the potential consequences of automation, such as high unemployment, an increase in global crime, and the widening gap between the wealthy few who control powerful corporations and everyone else. Some individuals worry that the weaponizing of social media could lead to widespread stress, depression, and loneliness.
Experts have thoroughly examined the potential benefits and risks of AI, exploring its implications for human-centered digital tools and systems, human rights, knowledge, health, and well-being, as well as societal connections, governance, and institutions. They have outlined a range of possible outcomes amid significant uncertainty.
The experts anticipate an evolution towards a “humans-plus-tech” paradigm by 2035, although they have differing opinions about it. Forty-two percent of them are equally excited and concerned, while 37 percent are more concerned than excited. Eighteen percent are more excited than concerned, with 2 percent expressing neither excitement nor concern, and another 2 percent believing that there won’t be much real change.
Jim Fenton, a veteran leader in the Internet Engineering Task Force, believes that higher education is on the verge of an unprecedented crisis. With skyrocketing prices and little real-world connection, colleges may become obsolete. He suggests that 50 percent of higher education institutions in the United States could shut down. As a result, alternative systems for obtaining degrees and qualifications will emerge.
Additionally, digital twins of cities, schools, and factories will be created using IoT devices to simulate and optimize efficiency without construction. The search for new solutions has become an urgent matter.
