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Research Essay

Your Name

Sheridan College ENGL 17889GD

Professor Chrisoula Benak

Date
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“Artificial Intelligence: Transformative Power and Ethical Concerns”

Abstract

Artificial intelligence (AI) today is a tool of transformation in many agencies, leading to

processing at a previously inconceivable level of flexibility and innovation. Even though

technology is transforming human life at an unprecedented rate, the rapid integration of

technology in different industries has prompted moral and ethical questions about bias,

privacy, and socioeconomic effects. But there still is light at the end of the tunnel because AI is

a power that we can utilize for superhuman progress.

AI-equipped medical diagnostics and personal therapies in healthcare upgrade the effectiveness

and cut the cost of the health services. As in this case, AI algorithms in finance tools do have a

notable contribution of reducing the gap of access to financial knowledge by tracking individual

portfolios and market movements with incomparable precision. Firstly, the flexible industrial

systems not just only transforms the production process but also saves cost. While secondly,

the AI -data enabled transportation solutions promised safer and more effective travels.

But the enhancement also appear with its ethical issues. For example, the additionally bias may

be more purposed by the development of AI algorithms that could be inequitably used to

determine hiring or the direction of sentencing. Moreover, job security problems arise because

of massive AI-enabled automation which aggravates the rift among the economic

classes. Partnering together, the authorities have to acknowledge and scrutinize these ethical

problems. The engineers ought to give the ethical design principles preeminence and should
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install the systems that identify and weaken the biases in the AI algorithms and systems for

better development.

Introduction:

This decade, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has emerged as a destroyer in every way, by altering

economies, society, and industries worldwide. Artificial intelligence (AI) has a huge extent of

space to improve the capabilities of humans and find solutions to burning problems as it can

analyze big sets of data, identify patterns, and make decisions. The influence of AI on all sectors

of life - healthcare, finance, manufacturing, etc. cannot be ignored. It is the main reason for

transformations in the way we work, how we live our lives, and interact with the world.

Notwithstanding, as AI falls in the more routine functions, many ethical questions arise that have

to be pondered on critically Questions about private action, justice, responsibility, and AI

algorithms’ future in society are in the process of becoming more critical as AI systems become

more extensive and complicated. In addition, the way AI technology is going to replace people,

destroy job markets and worsen the economic status has been debated out and even revived as a

necessary regulation.

The benefits of AI such as its revolutionary potential as well as ethical issues it introduces in the

society is what AI's advancements are bringing to light. The essay seeks to analyze the

complicated aspects of artificial intelligence (AI) on ethics, considering both the ethical

considerations associated with its implementation and the opportunities that it offers to have

improvements in productivity and innovation. Through analyzing opportunities and risks that

arise from AI application, we will then have a sounder understanding of how the technology can

be put for social good and the ethical ambiguity it carries with it.
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The Transformative Power of Artificial Intelligence:

AI that incorporates robotics and algorithms for machine learning and natural language

processing has a huge impact on the progress that has been previously impossible in many

domains. AI helps the healthcare sector to identify the diseases early which in turn puts effective

treatment procedure in place and lowers the cost. Also, the drug discovery has been aided by AI

which in turn improves patient outcomes. (Russell & Norvig, 2020). AI-based diagnostic

systems of the class for instance are capable to review medical images with a great precision.

Their work is to help the physicians to reveal an anomaly and then provide a treatment rapidly

(Topol, 2019). The efficiency and accessibility in healthcare are also improved with the use of

chatbots and virtual assistants, which are AI driven and help in the scheduling of patients, as well

as communicating with patients (Choy et al., 2018, p. 318).

Similarly, the AI algorithms in finance, bringing such unprecedented efficiency in the analysis of

market tendencies, strategy optimization of trading, and detection of fraud (Russell & Norvig,

2020) are not less than marvelous. As the use of high-frequency trading platforms by AI-based

algorithms increase, the executions of transactions in the market happen in milliseconds.

Moreover, the algorithms exploit the inefficiencies in the market and hence, provide the

substantial profits, according as Lopez de Prado (2018) argues. Besides this, AI-supported robos

have the capacity for the provision of tailored guidance as well as asset management on a per-

client basis, hence leveling up the playing field and granting everyone some access to wealth

management and financial literacy in general (Lunn, 2018).

The AI is making the healthcare and finance fields but not just also education, transportation and

manufacturing sectors to be their revolution. An essential aspect of education nowadays is that

AI-based platforms help students by tailoring their learning needs and giving personalized
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feedback (Selwyn, 2019). In fact, the self-driven vehicles like AI algorithms allow the AI

systems to come to safer and more efficacious transportation systems by getting reduced traffic

jams and accident rates, according to Brynjolfsson and McAfee (2017). On the one hand, the

system that is formed by AI and robotics has given rise to so much flexibility and effectiveness

of production lines that is completely transforming manufacturing processes (Frey &Osborne,

2017).

Ethical Concerns Surrounding Artificial Intelligence:

AI can be both so revolutionary, at the same time, however, it raises critical ethical questions to

be thoroughly thought of. As AI systems do not stop from collecting and analyzing large

amounts of personal data in the absence of explicit consent, the problem of invasion of private

life is reckoned as one of the most relevant ethics issues. One of the examples would be the fear

of targeted and automatic secret mass surveillance and invasion of human rights brought out by

AI-driven surveillance technologies like face recognition systems and predictive police

algorithms (Mittelstadt et al., 2016).

Moreover, the bias in the data of the AI algorithms, that is not changing, is portraying injustice to

the criminal justice, lending, and employment sectors (Jobin et al., 2019). Researches have come

to realize that biased AI algorithms exhibit a pattern where the minority groups are the ones that

most likely will be captured by the predictive systems used in the police department further

widening the inequality gap in the occurrences in the police force (Angwin et al., 2016). On the

other hand, the writing has it that skill-based AI-driven employment platforms result in a

condition in which underrepresented groups are discriminated against because of their race and

gender (Dastin, 2018).

Human labor may lose ground due to AI’s ability of trained algorithms replacing human

workers. Another challenge would be ability of AI to compete in the labor market with a

growing number of automated devices (Bostrom, 2014). AI, through automation, enhances

productivity and slashes operation expenditures in organizations, but in turn, it can endanger life

levels and widen economic difference (Frey & Osborne, 2017). People along with AI-powered

robots and autonomous vehicles are the source of worries about mass unemployment and the

vanishing of customary job opportunities (Brynjolfsson & McAfee, 2017).

Navigating Ethical Challenges in Artificial Intelligence:

AI ethics issues attract a broad multifaceted response involving not only societal shifts, but also

governmental and technological changes. Technological priorities must be AI that align with the

ethical design principles, such as responsibility, transparency, and fairness among others (Russell

& Norvig, 2020). The implementation of such a policy requires practice of rigorous ethical

analyses and integration of bias detection methods and their mitigations into AI systems

(Diakopoulos, 2016).

To address another aspect in the algorithmic bias issue, a strict law is needed, that is tied to

privacy, discrimination and transparency (Jobin et al., 2019). Governments may do so by

ensuring that AI technologies that serve the public come into use provided that they don't do

harm and defiance from the above, implementing clear criteria and norms for AI deployment

(European Commission, 2018). Meanwhile, the creation of robust AI governance systems which

embody ethical and technological considerations would be made feasible as a result of the

support for cross-disciplinary collaboration between policy stakeholders, engineers, ethicists and

other key constituents (Floridi, 2019).

Moreover, public awareness and therewith abilities of people to make a knowledgeable choice

must be developed by means of digital literacy and having a public discussion about the impact

of AI (Selwyn, 2019). The social governance of AI research and implementation can only be

made through the engagement of different perspectives and the promotion of a global awareness

of ethics (Żhan, 2020).

Conclusion:

Artificial Intelligence has power to remake the whole industries to grant people's creativity and

progress humanity (Russel & Norving, 2020). However, serious ethical issues are concerned e.g.,

algorithmic bias, unemployment replacement, and invasion of privacy which are connected with

AI's revolutionary power (Floridi, 2019; Jobin et al., 2019; Bostrom, 2014). Making sure that the

AI tools would serve the interests of society at large while keeping the moral values intact will

require collaborative efforts of all stakeholders, be it private initiatives and academics or public

bodies.

In addition to the challenges arising from the breach of privacy, making data systems transparent,

accounting, and just becomes the only lasting solution for such issues (Russell & Norvig,

2020). As stated by Diakopoulos (2016), AI creators should provide pathways of identifying bias

and resolving it when it exists, and they need to conduct thorough ethical review. Moreover, the

act of passing the sophisticated laws that protect privacy, rectify algorithmic discrimination, and

advance algorithmic transparency falls to legislators (European Commission,

2018). Governments can extend the public service by establishing clear guidelines with the

purpose of public good and preventing harm caused by AI deploying.

On the conclusion, though AI may be a platform for a new period of growth and prosperity, the

ethical implications shouldn't be neglected. AI digitalization should be a positive experience to

all society members. AI can be allowed to deteriorate and be used to preserve human rights and

values by managing privacy concerns, reducing algorithmic biases and integrating responsible AI

into society.

References:

1. Boyd, N. (2019). Canadian law: An introduction (7th ed.). Nelson.

2. Bostrom, N. (2014). Superintelligence: Paths, dangers, strategies. Oxford University

Press.

3. Brynjolfsson, E., & McAfee, A. (2017). The second machine age: Work, progress, and

prosperity in a time of brilliant technologies. W.W. Norton & Company.

4. Diakopoulos, N. (2016). Automating the news: How algorithms are rewriting the media.

Harvard University Press.

5. Floridi, L. (2019). The fourth revolution: How the infosphere is reshaping human reality.

Oxford University Press.

6. Russell, S., & Norvig, P. (2020). Artificial intelligence: A modern approach (4th ed.).

Pearson.

7. Selwyn, N. (2019). Should robots replace teachers? AI and the future of education.

Polity Press.

8. Choy, G., Khalilzadeh, O., Michalski, M., Do, S., Samir, A., & Pianykh, O. (2018).

Current applications and future impact of machine learning in radiology. Radiology,

288(2), 318-328.

9. European Commission. (2018). Ethics guidelines for trustworthy AI.

https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en/news/ethics-guidelines-trustworthy-ai
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10. Angwin, J., Larson, J., Mattu, S., & Kirchner, L. (2016). Machine bias. ProPublica.

https://www.propublica.org/article/machine-bias-risk-assessments-in-criminal-sentencing

11. Dastin, J. (2018). Amazon scraps secret AI recruiting tool that showed bias against women.

Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-amazon-com-jobs-automationinsight/amazon-

scraps-secret-ai-recruiting-tool-that-showed-bias-against-women-idUSKCN1MK08G