Is technology making us better?

Ever since the invention of fire, humans have been finding ways to make life more livable and easy. The question now is whether there is a limit to how easy we should make life. There are many consequences that can come from adding too much convenience, such as unemployment and automation bias. Most of these problems are not widespread right now, but with the fast advancements in AI, there is a possibility that these consequences may occur — and with them, even greater challenges.

Unemployment is probably the biggest concern that could come from advancements in AI. AI is already being used in some areas and replacing certain tasks, such as in recruiting processes. It can feel like AI is being developed to replace humans, and this raises understandable worries. For example, if someone created an AI capable of fully replacing doctors, many highly skilled people could suddenly find themselves unemployed. While this scenario might seem hard to imagine now, it is still a possibility worth taking seriously.

The case of automation bias is very interesting because most people might think that it would not happen. If you believe this, please just consider what could happen if humans ignore it. Automation bias is basically an overreliance on machines, especially AI. This can happen because of laziness or a lack of knowledge in the field that the machine or AI is being used for. There could be a number of terrible outcomes, and you can probably imagine worse than what I am about to explain. Let’s go back to the idea of AI taking over doctors, and now suppose there is a new contagious disease that the AI doesn’t know about, like a new variant of the plague. The AI might tell you that you have brucellosis, which could lead you to accidentally spread the disease among humanity, causing another COVID-like scenario.