ChatGPT and The Rise of AI

security of jobs. Whilst it seems inevitable that AI will replace some jobs, numerous reports have predicted that AI will also create many more jobs. In a recent ‘Future of Jobs Report’ in 2020, the World Economic Forum estimated that AI will replace approximately 85 million jobs by 2025, but in return, create 97 million jobs. The mechanisation of agriculture from the 1940s to the 1970s, which forced many farmers to migrate to cities in search of factory work is a prime historical example of what the future for the workforce might look like. Whilst the introduction of internal combustion powered tractors and other agricultural technologies decimated millions of jobs in the short term, it eventually resulted in the society we know today, where the majority of the workforce is employed in the service industry. If the same trend occurs in an ‘AI revolution’, it is likely that will see many jobs like receptionists, accountants and translators become redundant, but jobs like PR managers, teachers, robotics engineers and data scientists thrive.

Beyond the practical implications of AI’s integration into society, there is certainly a discussion to be had regarding the principles of an AI driven society. In an AI dominated world, it is entirely possible that we might see a fundamental and profound decline of human agency and expression. As humans become more and more reliant on AI to make decisions for them, humanity itself will become inherently predictable. Moreover, if AI technology becomes so advanced to the point where machines are able to mimic human speech, movement, and perhaps even thoughts and feelings - where does this leave humanity? If AI powered machines become indistinguishable from humans – what will it mean to be human? Hypothetically, is there a chance that humanity loses its very self? As AI strives towards a future untainted by imperfections and human blemishes, an AI mediated world will lose the very things which make us human.

Ultimately, ChatGPT offers a glimpse into what the future could look like with AI, a striking warning of the potential AI has to both ruin and enhance society as we know it. What remains to be seen is where we want to draw the line between what we want humans to continue to do, and what we want AI to takeover. It is also important to note that the threat of AI is not in the technology itself, but rather, in the people who use it. How humanity chooses to harness the powers of AI will undoubtedly determine what kind of future we move into.

I decided to ask ChatGPT itself if the rise of AI will be good or bad for society:

‘Ambiguous’ is certainly one way to put it, but perhaps it’s perfect. The future with AI is unclear and only time can give us a better idea of what the future holds with AI.

- Ren-Hao Chan