BUS108 Report: Artificial Intelligence - Impact and Ethical Analysis

This report provides a comprehensive overview of artificial intelligence (AI), defining its nature and exploring its various types, including reactive machines, limited memory machines, theory of mind machines, and self-awareness machines. It analyzes the positive impacts of AI on society, such as improvements in healthcare, cybersecurity, farming, and automation, while also addressing the potential threats, including ethical and moral issues, AI-driven weapons, and the risk of AI malfunctions. The report concludes with recommendations for mitigating the negative impacts of AI, emphasizing the need for increased transparency, rigorous testing, constant monitoring, strict government regulations, and ethical codes. This analysis highlights AI's transformative potential and the importance of addressing its associated risks.

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Introduction to Informatics
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Executive Summary
The aim of this report is to define artificial intelligence (AI) and its nature. This report
identified different types of AI and evaluated ethical or moral relating to the technology.
Further, the positive and negative impact of AI on the society in analysed in the report by
evaluating related examples. This report provided that AI has a number of positive impacts
on society such as improvement in healthcare, farming, automation and cybersecurity.
However, there are many risks relating to AI as well such as malfunction of machines, AI
used as a weapon, AI war, and ethical and moral issues. Conclusively, AI is the future and
researchers will continue to improve its functionalities, and it will substantially change
people lives and processes. Following recommendation can assist in addressing the issues
relating to AI.
 Increase transparency in the research of AI
 Rigorous testing before final release of AI machines
 Constant monitoring for resolving AI’s malfunctions
 Strict government regulations on AI technology
 Ethical codes that promote strong accountability mechanisms and strong oversights
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Table of Contents
1. Introduction.........................................................................................................................3
1.1 Scope...........................................................................................................................3
1.2 Method.........................................................................................................................3
2. Artificial Intelligence (AI)..................................................................................................3
3. Nature of Intelligence.........................................................................................................4
4. Types of AI.........................................................................................................................4
The Reactive Machine............................................................................................................5
The Limited Memory Machine..............................................................................................5
The Theory of Mind Machine................................................................................................5
The Self-Awareness Machine................................................................................................5
5. How can AI Improve Society.............................................................................................6
6. How can AI Threaten Society.............................................................................................6
7. Conclusion and Recommendations.....................................................................................8
8. Bibliography.......................................................................................................................9
List of Tables and Figures
Table 1: Types of AI..................................................................................................................4
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1. Introduction
Researchers have always been fascinated by the thought of creating a machine that could
mimic human thoughts and do things just like a human which resulted in the creation of
artificial intelligence.
1.1 Scope
The scope of this report is to understand what Artificial Intelligence is and its impact on the
society.
1.2 Method
This report will define artificial intelligence and explain its nature. This report will analyse
different types of artificial intelligence and evaluate its positive and negative impact on
society by evaluating how it has improved and threatened the society. Further, a conclusion
will be drawn after analysing different literatures on the topic and recommendations will be
given for effective use of artificial intelligence.
2. Artificial Intelligence (AI)
According to Russell and Norvig (2016), the artificial intelligence or AI is referred to the
theory and development of computer programs which can perform actions or tasks which
require human intelligence such as speech recognition, translation between languages, visual
perception and decision making. AI is a branch of computer science, and it focuses on
creating intelligent machines. The research associated with AI is highly specialised and
technical. One of the critical parts of AI is knowledge engineering which provides that
machines can act like humans if they have abundant information regarding the world.
Machine learning is a core part of AI, and it enables AI devices and robots to learn without
any human supervision and learn and identify new patterns. Although the concept of artificial
intelligence is generations old, however, the term was first coined by John McCarthy in 1956
(Pannu, 2015). Since then the AI has evolved substantially, and a number of AI devices and
robots has introduced by companies in the market. In 2016, Google’s DeepMind’s AlphaGo
AI defeated Go champion Lee Sedol (Moyer, 2016). In 2017, Saudi Arabia gives citizenship
to world’s first AI robot named Sophia (Hatmaker, 2017). There are major milestones in AI
history, and these examples show that AI technology is growing rapidly along with its impact
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on the society. However, there are many ethical and moral issues relating to AI as well since
in wrong hands it has the ability to wipe out the entire human race.
3. Nature of Intelligence
Intelligence is referred to mental capability which enables a human being to reason, plan,
solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly and learn from
experience (Thurstone, 2013). The classification of intelligence divides it into three main
categories which include concrete, abstract and social intelligence. The concrete intelligence
is referred to the ability of an individual to comprehend a specific situation and react
accordingly. The abstract intelligence is referred to the ability of a person to respond to
words, symbols and numbers. The social intelligence is the ability of human beings to react to
social situations occurring in day-to-day life (Sternberg, 2014). In other words, intelligence is
the thinking skills, ability to change and learning the ability of an individual. The key role of
intelligence is to adapt as per changing environment. Similarly, AI is adaptive rather than
analytical. The nature of AI is similar a human intelligence which is to adapt as per the
environment (Ghahramani, 2015). AI is constantly learning based on experiences by using
machine learning which assists it in performing complex tasks such as decision making,
speech recognition, visual perception and translation between languages. Experts argue that
creation of AI is ethically or morally wrong since only God has the power to create
consciousness. Ethical issues relating to AI include increased unemployment, unequal
distribution of wealth, artificial stupidity, threat for humanity and other security issues.
4. Types of AI
With the advancement in computer technology, such as machine learning, natural language
processing, computation creativity, genetic algorithms and neural networks, artificial
intelligence has evolved as well. Following are different types of AI.
Types of AI
Reactive Machine  First Stage of AI (Sulaiman et al., 2012)
 Did not store memory
Limited Memory Machine  Add details to action based on previous memory
(Hintze, 2016)
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Theory of Mind  Has the capacity to understand human emotion
(Bargin, 2017)
Self-Awareness Machine  Form representation of itself
 Extension of the theory of mind machines
 They are conscious and aware of the environment
(Hintze, 2016)
Table 1: Types of AI
(Source: Hintze, 2016)
The Reactive Machine
Sulaiman et al. (2012) provided that these machines react depending upon a specific situation
and they didn’t store memories or have past experience. It is the most basic form of AI. It
perceives environment directly and acts on the basis of what it sees. It is great for playing
games because it can recognise the best moves on the spot. Examples include IBM’s Deep
Blue and Google’s AlphaGo.
The Limited Memory Machine
Hintze (2016) provided that the second type of AI are able to consider and analyses the
previous information and adds these details to its preprogrammed representations of the
environment. It has enough memory or experience to make appropriate decisions and execute
appropriate actions. However, its memory is short term, and it cannot store information for
longer period of time. Examples include self-driving vehicles such as Tesla Model 3 and
Chabot and personal digital assistants such as Google Now and Siri.
The Theory of Mind Machine
These machines are more intelligent, and they have the capacity to understand thoughts and
emotions which affects human behaviour. Bargain (2017) stated that this type of AI can
comprehend motives, intentions, expectation, and feelings and it can interact socially. These
machines are yet to be built, but they will be the next class of intelligent machines. Examples
include c-3PO and R2-D2 characters from Star Wars Universe.
The Self-Awareness Machine
According to Hintze (2016), these types of AI can form representations about themselves.
These machines are an extension of the theory of mid and they are aware regarding their
internal states, they can make inferences and abstractions, and they can predict feelings of
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others. These machines are “conscious”, and they are future generations of sentient,
conscious and super intelligence. Examples include Eva from the 2015 movie Ex Machina.
5. How can AI Improve Society
Following are different ways in which AI can improve the society.
 Precision Medicine: AI helps in adaptation and implementation of precision
medicine which is an emerging way of treatment and prevention. Precision medicine
enables researchers and doctors to predict more accurately the symptom, treatment
and prevention strategies for a specific illness and they can cure it more easily (Hamet
and Tremblay, 2017).
 Cybersecurity: More than 707 million cybersecurity breaches were reported in 2015
and over 554 million in half of 2016. AI-based solutions can be more proactive, and
they can pre-empt attack and identify patterns that are associated with the malicious
content. It assists in reducing breaches of cyber security (Dilek et al., 2015).
 Reframing Farming: AI can address the issues relating to increased food demand
and shrinking farmlands. It can provide real-time data analytics to farmers which
assist them in maximising their crop yields and profits. For example, FarmLogs is a
mobile application which uses data and technology to help farmers in monitoring
fields, tracking weather and getting insights of soil through satellite data (Richardson,
2017).
 Increases Automation: The growth in AI technology will increase automation and
making it more accurate which would free up people time, and they can invest it in
more important tasks.
6. How can AI Threaten Society
Following are different ways in which AI can threaten the society.
 AI is based on computer programming, and it can be programmed to do something
devastating. For example, Autonomous weapons are AI systems that are programmed
for killing people. People can misuse AI and use it as a weapon to cause mass
causalities.
 AI causes many ethical or moral issues such as increase in unemployment rates due to
automation, inequality in wealth because people with AI technology will generate
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more wealth, humanity will be at risk because machines will affect people interaction
and behaviour and increase security issues.
 AI is a computer program, and it can malfunction which can result in causing an error.
For example, recently, a test self-driving car of Uber was involved in an accident
which resulted in the death of a woman. It shows that AI needs a large number of
improvements before they are able to replace human intelligence (Kopytoff, 2018).
 The self-aware AI machines can be dangerous for humankind because it could lead to
an AI war in which AI machines stand against humans. Machines which are able to
think and take decisions can decide to wipe up the entire human race to rule the earth
(Kowert, 2017).
 AI can be programmed for doing something beneficial; however, it can develop a
destructive method in order to achieve its goals. In order to achieve its tasks literally,
AI can perform its duties that can negatively affect humans. For example, AI driver
can be programmed to take passengers quickly to airport however people might vomit
in the car due to high speed.
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7. Conclusion and Recommendations
In conclusion, with the advancement in technology, the popularity of AI is growing as well.
Researchers are working on creating new AI machines which are highly smart and are able to
perform complex tasks which require human intelligence. There are a number of advantages
of AI such as improved healthcare, cybersecurity, farming and effective automation systems.
However, there are many disadvantages of AI as well such as the risk of AI war, AI weapons,
and unsuitable for the ecosystem. Although there are many risks associated with AI,
researchers will continue to invest in AI development. AI is the future, and it will change the
traditional process entirely. However, following recommendations can assist in reducing the
negative impact of AI on the society.
 Core public agencies which are responsible for healthcare, criminal justice, education
and welfare should not use ‘black box’ AI and algorithm. It will create transparency
which is needed for ensuring that cybercriminals do not misuse AI.
 Organisations should run rigorous testing before releasing an AI system for ensuring
that it will not amplify errors or biases based on an issue of algorithm or data.
 Companies should continuously monitor the use of AI system across contexts and
communities to resolve any malfunction quickly.
 The government should implement strict policies for ensuring that companies are not
misusing technology for gaining an unfair advantage.
 Ethical codes should be created for AI field accompanied by strong accountability
mechanisms and strong oversights.
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8. Bibliography
Bargin, R., 2017. Understanding Different Types of Artificial Intelligence Technology.
[Online] Available at: https://www.zeolearn.com/magazine/understanding-different-types-of-
artificial-intelligence-technology [Accessed 21 April 2018].
Dilek, S., Çakır, H. and Aydın, M., 2015. Applications of Artificial Intelligence Techniques
to Combating Cyber Crimes: A Review. International Journal of Artificial Intelligence &
Applications (IJAIA), 6(1), pp.21-34.
Ghahramani, Z., 2015. Probabilistic machine learning and artificial intelligence. Nature,
521(7553), p.452.
Hamet, P. and Tremblay, , 2017. Artificial intelligence in medicine. Metabolism-Clinical and
Experimental, 69, pp.36-40.
Hatmaker, T., 2017. Saudi Arabia bestows citizenship on a robot named Sophia. [Online]
Available at: https://techcrunch.com/2017/10/26/saudi-arabia-robot-citizen-sophia/ [Accessed
21 April 2018].
Hintze, A., 2016. Understanding the four types of AI, from reactive robots to self-aware
beings. [Online] Available at: https://theconversation.com/understanding-the-four-types-of-
ai-from-reactive-robots-to-self-aware-beings-67616 [Accessed 21 April 2018].
Hintze, A., 2016. Understanding the Four Types of Artificial Intelligence. [Online] Available
at: http://www.govtech.com/computing/Understanding-the-Four-Types-of-Artificial-
Intelligence.html [Accessed 21 April 2018].
Kopytoff, V., 2018. Video of Fatal Self-Driving Car Accident Shows Pedestrian's Final
Moments. [Online] Available at: http://fortune.com/2018/03/21/video-fatal-self-driving-car-
accident/ [Accessed 21 April 2018].
Kowert, W., 2017. The Foreseeability of Human-Artificial Intelligence Interactions. Tex. L.
Rev., 96, p.181.
Moyer, C., 2016. How Google's AlphaGo Beat a Go World Champion. [Online] Available at:
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2016/03/the-invisible-opponent/475611/
[Accessed 21 April 2018].
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Pannu, A., 2015. Artificial intelligence and its application in different areas. Artificial
Intelligence, 4(10).
Richardson, J., 2017. Three Ways Artificial Intelligence is Good for Society. [Online]
Available at: https://iq.intel.com/artificial-intelligence-is-good-for-society/ [Accessed 21
April 2018].
Russell, S. and Norvig, P., 2016. Artificial intelligence: a modern approach. London:
Pearson Education Limited.
Sternberg, R.J., 2014. Teaching about the nature of intelligence. Intelligence, 42, pp.176-79.
Sulaiman, M.H., Mustafa, M.W., Shareef, H. and Khalid, S., 2012. An application of
artificial bee colony algorithm with least squares support vector machine for real and reactive
power tracing in deregulated power system. International Journal of Electrical Power &
Energy Systems, 37(1), pp.67-77.
Thurstone, L., 2013. The nature of intelligence. Abingdon-on-Thames: Routledge.
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