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Philip Argauer

Heather Jeddy

ENG 112

February 15, 2019

Man’s Best Friend: AI

All over the world, new innovations are making the world a better place to live. Poverty

has been decreasing and technology has never been better. Just 20 years ago, the thought of

having a camera, computer, library, radio, TV, and telephone build all into one device was

foreign. Now, it is common for people to walk around with these devices which fit snugly into

their hands. Each phone’s capabilities, qualities, and batteries are always improving. While it

may seem intuitive to keep the updates coming, some are frightened with the rate at which

technology is improving. While Artificial Intelligence is a concept that scares Americans, it is

not a threat to the working middle class in America because each program is built for a single

purpose, makes jobs more efficient, and will increase safety in the workplace.

AI does not threaten the existence of humanity because it is programmed to complete

only one task. Some people believe that in the future, a robot will be created that can destroy all

of humanity. The “problem is that many humans tend to ascribe too much intelligence to

narrowly focused AI systems” (Bundy 40). Computer programs are not built this way. They are

built simply to complete one function. Take AlphaZero for example. AlphaZero is a game engine

created by the British company DeepMind, which can only play three board games. It can take

first prize in any chess tournament, win against any Go player, and beat anyone in Shogi.

However, that is all it can do. It will never be able to drive a car, nor check grammar, nor search

the internet. Humans are built to have a wide range of abilities. Robots are only designed to be
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incredibly good at one function. For AI to become smarter, it must begin to broaden its

intelligence, not just with depth or linearly. Instead, “…intelligence must be modeled using a

multidimensional space, with many different kinds of intelligence and with AI progressing in

many different directions” (Bundy, 40). While AI is increasing now, it is because we are building

them to be faster and more efficient. For AI to reach ‘The Singularity,’ the point at which AI has

more intelligence than humans, there are a countless number of obstacles we have yet to

overcome, or even encounter. While Artificial Intelligence is getting faster and smarter, it is not a

threatening force because each program is created to complete only one task.

Jobs are now more efficient than ever due to the developments made in Artificial

Intelligence. While some argue that all jobs will be taken over by Artificial Intelligence, this

argument is not entirely sensical. People will use AI to complement their jobs, not take them

over. “As long as you have human juries, you're going to have human lawyers and judges”

because “the future isn't lawyer versus robot, it's lawyer plus robot versus lawyer plus robot”

(Miller 27). Certain jobs, such as referring and the profession of law, will always be inhabited by

humans. Since robots cannot make a human mistake or propose their arguments in a different

manner, they will never take over those professions. This is because machine intelligence

“expertise tends to be very high in very narrow areas, but nonexistent elsewhere” (Bundy, 40).

However, there is still a legitimate concern for AI taking over certain jobs. It is impossible to

negate the argument that Artificial Intelligence will make specific jobs non-existent. However, it

is also important to consider that the new AI advancements will also create new jobs. A human

will have to service the AI in the case of failure. Furthermore, computer intelligence will be used

in certain fields of work but will be concentrated in those certain fields. AI will not directly

affect every single job or even most of the jobs that people now hold. The use of AI will be
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concentrated to complement existing jobs and while it will take over some lines of work, it will

also create new jobs in the process.

Artificial Intelligence is extremely consistent and this provides enhanced safety in both

the workplace and in the community. Self-driving cars are a great example of the safety that AI

provides. While some see these cars as a hazard, they are much safer than humans driving. They

have many safety features, such as Automatic Emergency Braking system and cameras which

keep you in your lane. “And because it has a full 360 degrees view around the car, it can be

tracking multiple objects, with much greater things happening, with much greater accuracy than

any human” (Thompson, 25). A human, on the other hand, cannot see all the way around the car

and can therefore only make a rough judgment whenever maneuvering. However, robots do not

have the same mental capacity which humans possess. So, a concerning question arises about AI

making ethical judgments. One major “dilemma a machine might face [is] if a crowded bus is in

its fast-moving path. Should it change direction and try to kill fewer people?” (Miller 35). The

flaw in this question is that it fails to consider the rarity of the situation. With the amount of self-

driving cars on the road constantly increasing, the need to answer this question will disappear.

Self-driving cars will be constantly communicating with each other. This will lead to a major

decrease in mistakes which lead to such a risky situation. Advancements in AI will increase the

safety of all Americans both on and off the road.

Artificial Intelligence has made the world a better place without destroying it. This is

because AI is not a threat to humanity. Each program is created for a single purpose and cannot

supersede that purpose. Artificial Intelligence will not negatively affect middle-class workers

because it will continually open new jobs. It will help each job run more smoothly while creating
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a safer environment in which to live and work. Advancements in AI should continue because it is

not an enemy of those within the work-force, but an asset to increase job efficiency and safety.
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Works Cited

Bundy, Alan. “Smart Machines are Not a Threat to Humanity.” Communications of the ACM, Vol

60, No. 2, February 2017, ACM Digital Library, DOI 10.1145/2950042. Accessed 30 Jan

2019.

Miller, John W. "The Creeping Ethical Challenges of Artificial Intelligence:” Technology is

already bending our perceptions of the world around us. America, 12 Nov. 2018, p. 20+.

Opposing Viewpoints in Context,

http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A565200790/OVIC?u=viva2_vccs&sid=OVIC&xid=

b6d24aa1. Accessed 30 Jan. 2019.

Thompson, Cadie, “Why driverless cars will be safer than human drivers.” Business Insider. 16

Nov. 2016. https://www.businessinsider.com/why-driverless-cars-will-be-safer-than-

human-drivers-2016-11 Accessed 8 Feb. 2019.