Artificial Intelligence as a Disruptive Technology

Economic Transformation and Government Regulation

Rosario Girasa

• Editorial: Palgrave Macmillan
• Año: 2020
• ISBN:
  9783030359751
• Categoría: Social Sciences
• Categoría: Sociology

Artificial intelligence (AI) is the latest technological evolution which is transforming the global economy and is a major part of the "Fourth Industrial Revolution."

This book covers the meaning, types, subfields and applications of AI, includingU.S. governmental policies and regulations, ethical and privacy issues, particularly as they pertain and affect facial recognition programs and the Internet-of Things (IoT). There is a lengthy analysis of bias, AI's effect on the current and future job market, and how AI precipitated fake news. In addition, the text covers basics of intellectual property rights and how AI will transform their protection. The author then moves on to explore international initiatives from the European Union, China's New Generation Development Plan, other regional areas, and international conventions. The book concludes with a discussion of super intelligence and the question and applicability of consciousness in machines. The interdisciplinary scope of the text will appeal to any scholars, students and general readers interested in the effects of AI on our society, particularly in the fields of STS, economics, law and politics.

Part IArtificial Intelligence: Disruption, Application, and U.S. Policies

© The Author(s) 2020

R. GirasaArtificial Intelligence as a Disruptive Technologyhttps://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-35975-1_1

Begin Abstract

1. AI as a Disruptive Technology

Rosario Girasa¹

(1)

Goldstein Academic Center 203, Pace University, Pleasantville, NY, USA

End Abstract

The world currently and will in the future experience economic and social changes which will alter society in nearly all of its manifestations so as to make it almost unrecognizable as it exists today. This occurrence is unique because of the rapidity in which it is taking place, all due to technological advances that have spread even to the poorest segments of society. Consider the effect of miniaturization on cell phones, computers, and other devices in addition to innumerable other innovations. These advances are incredibly exhilarating and also frightening to those persons who lack knowledge or capabilities to keep pace with the immense transformations. Not many decades ago an individual could pursue a course of studies which would permit a lifetime of work and comfort. Today, no assurance can be made to anyone that his or her knowledge or skill base will be sufficient to last more than a few years.

The Four Industrial Revolutions

We are in the midst of a Fourth Industrial Revolution . The First Industrial Revolution , which took place in the eighteenth century and continued onto the nineteenth century, witnessed the change from an agrarian society (consider that 97% of individuals in early America were farmers) to an industrial society promoted by steam and water. The Second Industrial Revolution , generally attributed to the years between 1870–1914, was characterized by newly discovered forms of energy such as electricity, oil, and steel that became the bases from which evolved the inventions of the telephone, light bulbs, and internal combustion engine. The Third Revolution refers to the modern-day advances in technology, e.g., miniaturization which was the foundation of the use of computers by any individual; the Internet that gave access to the world of knowledge without the need to leave one’s desk; and advances in communication such as cell phones, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and other comparable devices and social media. This text discusses the transformative changes that are taking place today and which have been described as the “Fourth Industrial Revolution.”¹

Disruptive Technologies

The advances of technology, i.e., the practical applications of knowledge over the past several decades, have escalated exponentially with the creation of micro-computer chips coupled with the Internet all of which has transformed how we think, act, learn, and go about our daily personal and business-related activities. The current so-called “hot area” resulting therefrom that has encouraged enormous investments of time and money and which has become “disruptive” in daily living is the proliferation of cryptocurrencies with their bases in blockchain technology (the first disruptive technological development). A second disruptive technological development is that of artificial intelligence (“AI” hereafter). Both developments have the potential of creating vast changes in the way we behave and go about our daily activities. Disruption is a fact of life that continually occurs whenever new inventions and processes enter the marketplace. The naysayers’ fear, with some justification, that numerous jobs will be lost as a result of innovation; but changes also bring about a transformation evidenced by new jobs, directly or indirectly, brought about by the new technologies.

Stages of Disruptive Technologies. Scholars who have commented on the stages of disruption of existing modes of doing business generally assert a three-stage process, while other scholars emphasize as many as five stages. For example, one scholar contended that the three stages consist of an initial paralysis stage whereby the disruption is unanticipated and thus not planned, e.g., Amazon’s entry into the book sales marketplace; then proceeds to a reaction stage whereby the affected company comes to the realization of the threat to its existence or market share and advances in a number of ways to thwart the onslaught, e.g., by political lobbying for protection, making small improvements, and other reactive efforts; and finally, the third transformation stage whereby the affected company institutes major changes within the firm. This last stage occurs with the firm, e.g., adding new technological tools, building customer relations, merging with other companies similarly affected, expanding its ability to offer additional services or product lines, establishing a center for excellence, additional advertising, and other efforts.² Another commentator suggested a five-stage process of confusion (not sure what is occurring), repudiation (claiming lack of importance), shaming (saying, e.g., it is just a fad), acceptance (realization that the new entrant is for real), and forgetting (minimizing past behavior and adaptation to new circumstances).³

The creators of blockchain technology sought a mechanism by which persons could transact their daily business and personal happenings by bypassing third parties while also preserving personal safety, and by permanent recordation of transactions. AI likewise will be as transformative to our daily lives. There are, of course, other disruptive technologies; however, this author believes the two technologies cited have the greatest futuristic impact. Some authors exhibit a listing of a dozen or so disruptive technologies but most are based on AI technology.⁴ This text will examine the meaning of AI, its rapid developments and uses, the benefits and risks, and whether and to what extent should regulatory agencies become concerned about protection against harmful misuse thereof (Fig. 1.1).⁵

Fig. 1.1

Major disruptive technologies

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

AI Antecedents. Historically, the words “Artificial Intelligence” were first coined by John McCarthy in 1955 in a proposal for a conference to be held at Dartmouth College. He was a computer scientist who taught mathematics therein and later founded AI laboratories both at MIT and Stanford. The six-week Dartmouth Conference of 1956 became a seminal event in which artificial intelligence or thinking machines was first enunciated in an organized manner and in which additional topics were discussed such as neural networks, natural language progressing, and other topics now commonplace in today’s depictions of the numerous subsets of AI. McCarthy believed that “every aspect of learning or any other feature of intelligence can in principle be so precisely described that a machine can be made to simulate it.”⁶ AI has a long history in a broad sense extending back as early as the fourth century B.C. to Aristotle who invented syllogistic logic, the first formal deductive reasoning system. Thereafter, AI is traceable successively to 1206 A.D. whereby Al-Jasari invented the first programmable humanoid robot; the invention of the printing press in the fifteenth century; the first mechanical digital calculating machine by Pascal in 1642; and the numerous mathematical advances of the first half of the 20th particularly by Bertrand Russell and Alfred North Whitehead in their treatise on formal logic in Principia Mathematica . The more recent history has witnessed greatly increased understanding of AI with technology companies coming into existence, advances in computer technology that explored its uses, and numerous other programs that enabled highly significant revolutionary advances in technological development.

Preceding McCarthy’s coining of AI was the remarkable effort of Alan Turing, famed for his effort in decrypting the German enciphering machine, Enigma, which was a major factor in aiding Allied efforts to end World War II victoriously. He was particularly known for his “Turing machine” which strived to imitate the human mind by the use of a precise mathematical formulation of computability. He sought to create a machine which could play chess, i.e., with thought processes emulating the human brain. He conceived of an apparent contradictory expression “machine intell...