In less than ten years, AI, together with machine learning, neural networks, and natural language processing, have penetrated our lives and changed the ways we communicate, work, travel, and make decisions. AI revolution, like the Industrial Revolution in the 18th century, will reshape human existence in a fundamental way. Revolution, though, comes along with disruption and unexpected social risks. Ng cautions that although AI has limitless potential to better our lives, we must take care to regulate its improvement such that the strength it brings does not destroy our homes. This work examines in great depth the many-sided effect of AI on the society of today, with the help of the latest research findings to explain both the positive and the negative factors of this era.
The incoming of AI-powered conversational sellers and digital assistants, such as chatbots, has reshaped how humans speak and do linguistic research in the modern era. According to Al-Emran et al. (2021), chatbots use herbal language processing to interact with customers during conversations and provide them with customer service, reference, and entertainment purposes. Market research shows that by 2024, the chatbot industry could be worth more than 10 billion dollars all over the world, which shows its huge integration into communicative interfaces (Kumar, 2023). Proponents of this generation laud its capacity to provide instant, personalized interactions at scale for both governments and customers. Nevertheless, opponents say that chatbots lack precise knowledge of linguistic and emotional subtleties and deliver unsatisfactory user experiences full of misunderstandings (Smith, 2022). However, there can be no doubt that AI is redefining communication through different methods of interaction between humans and computers.
The integration of AI with small household devices and services has indeed fundamentally transformed our way of life, as well as our lifestyle and the way we spend our free time. As mentioned by Khan (2020), modern smart homes incorporated with AI technology are AI systems that can digitally control functions like light, temperature, or appliances. AI also powers the algorithms that bring out content curation on platforms such as YouTube, Netflix, and Spotify, which match the media to be viewed to one’s interests and preferences (Anand and Nath, 2020). Supporters emphasize the fact that these advances help provide convenience, personalization, and an off-switch over one’s own space. Nevertheless, opponents hold that giving tasks or choices to AI systems that have been already automated deprives individuals of the competency to be self-sufficient and exposes them to a very narrow span of world views. AI on lifestyles then has an ambivalent impression.
One of the most debated phenomena in recent business and economic activities is the application of AI technologies in business operations and production processes, as its capability to substitute human roles and labor is imminent. In the words of Manyika (2022), engaged AI automation can improve and enhance workplace productivity, output quality, and efficiency of processes in manufacturing, customer service, and transportation. Moreover, the supporters of AI claim that it could act as a substitute for human workers to avoid risks and enhance their safety (Haesevoets et al., 2021). Meanwhile, the studies show that low-skilled, routine, and repetitive jobs are the ones that displaced the most, which worsens unemployment. The modest estimate of the World Economic Forum (2020) is that AI will displace 85 million jobs by 2025, which calls for a new workforce policy to cope with this technological revolution. Even though AI contributes to benefits, the consequences of its disruption of employment are still complicated.
AI has successfully displaced the training with an adaptive tutoring system and grading system. AI tutors can provide instructions that suit individualized learning needs by analyzing the knowledge gaps of learners and formulating instructions to meet their needs. Supporters of this viewpoint take a stronger stance and consider that in addition to brain development, this tool has also broken the tedium of teaching by stressing academic excellence. Critics on one side say that human abilities, like creativity, empathy, and social interactions, are not used as much as before the AI is overused. On the other hand, AI systems provide a more sophisticated host of learning opportunities. AI also proved its weak potential in capturing human core activities of comparing and evaluating things in that subjective and emotional aspects are taken into consideration. Thus, deep inside the scope of AI’s benefit to education, the discussion over the effect of AI schooling has its crucial open question with a somewhat careful approach of taking into account the protection of children’s well-being and data.
The healthcare domain has also witnessed extensive AI adoption in areas like robotic surgery, image diagnosis, virtual nursing assistants, and drug discovery. Per a study by Leszkiewicz, Hormann, and Krafft (2021), AI has the potential to generate over $150 billion in annual savings for U.S. healthcare by improving predictive analytics, automating administrative tasks, and assisting clinical decision-making. However, physicians caution that AI technologies are not yet advanced enough to match specialized human expertise, warning of dire consequences from overreliance on automated diagnostics and treatment recommendations. More research into AI’s healthcare impact is required to ensure it complements medical professionals in improving patient outcomes.
There are rising numbers of AI technologies, such as sustainable cars, intelligent transportation foundations, and intelligent infrastructure, that are considerably changing the transportation frame. For example, we have the dominant group of suppliers arranging for driverless taxi fleets and self-driving vans to satisfy the demand for automation (Paddeu and Parkhurst, 2020). The proponents consider such improvements to reduce site visitor fatalities owing to human errors and thereby contribute to the lessening of fuel expenses and lowering of their environmental impact. Scholars, however, warn that vehicles with self-sufficiency are still a few years away since autonomy in vision and reasoning is still a problem. Public reluctance also exists regarding shield vulnerabilities and the ability to reduce accidents for human drivers. The domain of transportation, which is, in fact, the most prepared for the revolution of AI, nevertheless faces two major problems of public opinion and security.
To conclude, it can be seen that AI has already caused main social changes applying to how humans speak, paint, learn, and deal with healthcare. Nevertheless, the benefits of AI are pretty counteracted by the fears of replacing human roles, loss of core skills and conflict of interest, and unethical big data. As we can see in recent academic perspectives, the technology’s development must be keenly governed to ensure we maximize its advantages while minimizing harm. It is, therefore, ideal that policymakers, technology leaders, and the public work to jointly guide the evolution of AI’s evolution in a way that protects shared values.
Al-Emran, M., AlQudah, A.A., Abbasi, G.A., Al-Sharafi, M.A. and Iranmanesh, M., 2023. Determinants of using AI-based chatbots for knowledge sharing: evidence from PLS-SEM and fuzzy sets (fsQCA). IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management.
Anand, P.B. and Nath, R., 2020. Content‐Based Recommender Systems. Recommender Systems with Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence: Practical Tools and Applications in Medical, Agricultural and Other Industries, pp.165-195.
Haesevoets, T., De Cremer, D., Dierckx, K. and Van Hiel, A., 2021. Human-machine collaboration in managerial decision making. Computers in Human Behavior, 119, p.106730.
Kumar, V., 2023. Digital enablers. In The Economic Value of Digital Disruption: A Holistic Assessment for CXOs (pp. 1-110). Singapore: Springer Nature Singapore.
Leszkiewicz, A., Hormann, T. and Krafft, M., 2022. Smart business and the social value of AI. In Smart Industry–Better Management (pp. 19-34). Emerald Publishing Limited.
Manyika, J., 2022. Getting AI right: Introductory notes on AI & society. Daedalus, 151(2), pp.5-27.
Paddeu, D. and Parkhurst, G., 2020. The potential for automation to transform urban deliveries: Drivers, barriers and policy priorities. In Advances in Transport Policy and Planning (Vol. 5, pp. 291-314). Academic Press.
Popenici, S., 2022. Artificial Intelligence and Learning Futures: Critical Narratives of Technology and Imagination in Higher Education. Taylor & Francis.
World Economic Forum. (2020). Jobs of Tomorrow: Mapping Opportunity in the New Economy. [online] Available at: https://www.weforum.org/publications/jobs-of-tomorrow-mapping-opportunity-in-the-new-economy/.