Chronicle poll results: Impact of AI
We asked our readers if they believe AI will have a mostly positive or mostly negative impact on society over the next 10 years. Here's what they said.
Last week, the Chronicle asked its readers in an online poll the following question: “Do you believe AI will have a mostly positive or mostly negative impact on society over the next 10 years?” Of the 208 people who responded, 35% said “very negative”; 23% said “somewhat negative”; 19% said “somewhat positive”; 10% said “very positive”; and 13% said they weren’t sure. Comments were submitted by 50 people. A few follow.
Too many people have already stopped thinking for themselves and AI will only make it worse.
I have read that AI has given very wrong answers to health questions. That is very dangerous.
I fear that we are opening a Pandora’s box.
AI has a long, positive history — search, translation, text summarization, clustering and more were all once called AI, and were used to free people from tedious tasks to focus on ones requiring human judgment. This isn’t how the current so-called “AI” is being used, unfortunately; people, and particularly companies trying to show profits, are using it where it is not suited, making the systems we all rely on unstable and sometimes causing actual harm to humans. I don’t see that trend changing any time soon.
I work in the AI biotech field and I know it will have an incredibly positive impact on healthcare. More accurate and earlier diagnosis, new drugs tailored to specific diseases, and expanded drug access to population groups that are underrepresented in clinical trials like pregnant women and infants/children. This is not to say that there are no negatives of AI, such as job cuts and data center energy usage. However there are many benefits and I believe it will lead to huge advancements in modern medicine.
It’s 50/50. If we allow the evil part of society to control AI, then it will have a seriously negative impact. If a good portion of society manages it so that it benefits all people, then it can have a very positive outcome. It comes down to good vs. evil.
It’s too soon to say.
I think AI will continue to whittle away our human ability to problem solve, think critically and communicate.
I’m sure it will be great for some things, but I am worried how far this is going to go. I also fear that many jobs will be lost to AI.
AI won’t replace humans, but humans who use AI will replace those that don’t.
Inadequate attention by the public at large, coupled with government inaction and driven by big money, will have negative results to our existence and society overall.
I believe it will have a decidedly negative impact on society, which depends upon robust human interaction, even as it positively contributes to a wide variety of business and creative endeavors. The problem is the absence of any long-term strategy. PJC
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