By Jeremy Binning
Ask someone 50 years ago how they pictured the year 2023 would look, and many would probably say flying cars. However, having a machine type your essay for you sounds just as fun.
AI, also known as artificial intelligence, has been around since the early 1950s, believe it or not. Although it seems fairly new, the development of this has taken time to produce what is being used today, which has people worried about their future ways of living and working.
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines or software. It is also the field of study in computer science that develops and studies intelligent machines. Michael Eskander, an alumnus of SUNY Plattsburgh, graduated last semester with a bachelor’s in computer science. Eskander noticed the difference in how his classes were compared to how they started when he was a first-year.
“I started here in 2018 and the thought of artificial intelligence wasn’t even brought up in any of my computer science classes. Over the years as I was finishing up my senior year it became clear that this was going to change the way school and life in general will be,” Eskander said.
Recently, the Writers Guild of America strike ended after both parties came to an agreement over new contract stipulations. One of the arguments within the writers’ community was the worry that artificial intelligence would soon replace human writers. This isn’t just a topic of discussion for writers, but if we came to this level of intelligence in writing screenplays, the question looms of what else can technology replace in mankind. Artificial intelligence was designed to aid humans, not take them over. The power of media is on display as we see conversations arise off of worry based on what billionaires and entrepreneurs like Elon Musk have commented on in regard to AI.
“There is some chance that is above zero that AI will kill us all,” Musk said in an interview with NBC News.
Jacalyn Samuelson, a senior majoring in criminal justice, feels that artificial intelligence will do more good than harm.
“People love to overreact and make a conversation out of nothing. Truthfully, I think artificial intelligence is needed in the world because it is just another example of positive progression as a human race,” Samuelson said.
Many people have argued that the potential dangers of artificial intelligence can come to light as time goes on, but it feels more anticipated as a hope than an actual possibility. In reality, humans have always created technology to help make lives easier, and it never got to the point where it frightened society that this might be the end of us. Sci-fi movies have clearly done their part in instilling a world where robots overtake humans but as of now, it is continually shown that it is nothing more than the result of an over-imaginative mind.
In the over 70-year history of artificial intelligence, we are still merely cracking the surface of the benefits and uses that this technology imposes. There will always be conspiracy theories and people will always voice their outrageous assumptions on Reddit, but the fact of the matter is, time will tell just how much artificial intelligence can be used.
