Is AI just another element of uncertainty?

I was scrolling through Reddit and reading random things about AI when I came across a comment that said "AI is just another element of uncertainty" and it seemed like a great topic to explore.

How did this comment come about?

The original post was an individual expressing concerns over the impact of AI on his future plans.

In his words:

I have a whole future planned out and all of a sudden I feel very less motivated to follow my plans because it all feels so pointless.

The comment mentioned above decided to highlight that many things are or can be pointless in life as the future can be derailed by many factors, AI just being a new element in a rather long stack.

The question now: is this a valid assessment of AI?

Apparent paradox

On one hand, AI indeed creates an enormous amount of uncertainties, it's true impact on the world and future economies can only be guessed but not predictable.

Yet, at the same time, AI can serve as a tool to reduce uncertainties.

So... It's both? An element of uncertainty and also a tool to reduce it?

Think about it, it is evidently difficult to predict, comprehensively, which jobs, industries, and business models AI will destroy, some occupations may disappear, while entirely new ones emerge.

That's uncertainty.

At the same time, AI changes the competitive environment. Businesses cannot know exactly how quickly or exactly competitors will adopt or leverage AI.

A company that ignores AI may fall behind, while at the same time, one that adopts it too aggressively may waste resources or create new risks.

That's also uncertainty.

We also have the uncertainties around risk of mass misinformation, privacy concerns, failures of AI-powered autonomous systems, the list goes now.

The comical part is that ultimately, AI depends on "uncertain human behavior." Everything AI knows and is, is dependent on that.

Talk about the biggest factor of the argument right?

Yet, when we look away from this, we can also find that AI can reduce uncertainties but of course, this is mostly the boring stuff.

You have to either be running a business or be working for one to value the speed and intelligence it is equipped with.

Also if you're the government. There's a reason AI is needed by the military, it all comes down to reducing uncertainties when it comes to security.

So you see, AI is both a source of uncertainty and a tool for managing uncertainty.

Truth is, it isn't the AI itself that's an element of uncertainty, it is the environment it is now a part of, run by humans by the way, so I guess we can settle for "AI is another tool to amplifier the uncertainties around human behavior"

What you do with AI matters more than what AI will do to you. Right? It's not like you can entirely control the latter.

Posted Using INLEO