The challenge of artificial intelligence and preparation for it

- Efforts should be made to make this process of change peaceful and smooth

About every two decades, humans face a technological wave that tests the limits of our intelligence and our survival skills. The current wave of artificial intelligence (AI) is also a time of such examination. These technological waves share a few things in common. When such a technological wave first comes, some of us start praising it while some people start wondering why these people are wasting their time and ours on these things. Then, when that technological wave takes hold, a kind of anxiety begins to creep into the minds of the thoughtful among us.

As the benefits of a new technology begin to dawn on society, we begin to struggle to adopt the changes that allow us to take advantage of that wave.

Talking about the technology wave related to artificial intelligence, ChatGPT is an early example, it is currently in its second phase where thinkers and policy makers are busy giving policy directives and forming expert committees. The latest case is from America where a few days ago President Joe Biden also gave a similar instruction. This directive comes from America, which means that the country which is considered to be the leader in adopting the technological waves, is being given a lot of importance.

The first such technological wave was the Industrial Revolution which first emerged in Manchester, England in the 1750s and influenced society and the world for the next 100 years. Because of this, machines were created that began to spin and weave threads and make clothes many times faster than the work done by humans and animals.

Then came a new invention in the form of the steam engine. The Industrial Revolution not only made cotton clothing cheaper but also made it readily available to people around the world. Gandhi Bapu used spinning and weaving tools to boost India's freedom movement and drive the British out of India.

Then the revolution in the chemical industry made it possible to make things like artificial indigo and dye clothes in attractive colors, and then chemical knowledge made it possible to produce artificial chemical threads like nylon.

All analysts blame the labor unions for the closure of mills in the country and even today they ignore the root cause which was the chemical revolution. Which made synthetic polyester and nylon cheap and popular for making sarees, dhoti, kameez, pants, bed sheets etc. option. With this the cotton trend almost stopped.

There have been other such technological waves. Now if we talk about Artificial Intelligence (AI) what can we face in the era of AI revolution. Let's learn from the examples of the industrial and chemical revolutions to try to decide which features to look for and which to try to minimize. It remains to be seen which products or services AI will make cheaper and which jobs it will make redundant?

Is it possible that the first group of services that will become cheaper will be the group of doctors, lawyers, bankers, writers, filmmakers and school-college teachers? Will these services be handed over to chatbots and their prices will drop significantly below their current prices in the next few years? Will this mean that such services will become affordable for Indian citizens? If this happens, is the income and statistics of these occupations likely to drop dramatically as has happened with weavers and spinners. Most worryingly, will there be as strong a resistance to this upheaval and rebellion as previous technological revolutions? Or, will allow AI to benefit from productivity and move towards a peaceful transition.