While there are fears that AI will take our jobs or all the interesting parts of our jobs and leave us the dull bits, a recent poll of Canadians has found that many of us are incorporating the technology into our everyday lives. A recent survey by Leger has shown that 30% of Canadians use AI, up from 25% a year ago. Undoubtedly, familiarity with programs like Chat GPT is the driving force, but there is lots going on behind the scenes, too.
What did the poll find?
While usage is up, so too is fear around where the technology could be taking us. Respondents to a survey in February had split views on whether the technology was something to be scared of or not. 36% of Canadians and 32% of Americans were of the opinion that AI tools were beneficial. 25% of both nationalities believed they were bad, and 39% of Canadians and 43% of Americans did not express a view either way. AI tools are most trusted for completing simple tasks or answering questions and least for teaching children or helping people make complex decisions. The report on the survey explicitly said people did not trust AI to find them a life partner!
People’s concerns were about AI’s lack of empathy and emotional intelligence, which are essential for good decision-making. Both Canadians and Americans were concerned about increased risks of fraud and hacking, and Americans expressed particular concern about AI’s threats to human jobs. Unsurprisingly, there was a real divide between younger and older age groups. Nearly sixty percent of 18-35-year-olds said they used AI tools, while only thirteen percent of people over 55 said they did. However, it has to be said that many people do not know that they are engaging with AI when they are using webchats or similar.
We are not always aware of where AI is
Younger respondents are more familiar with the fact that AI powers chatbots, while older people might not be aware that the online assistant called Dave or Wendy is not a real person. For example, many people use Siri, Apple’s voice-enabled virtual assistant, to ask for information or get directions while driving without even acknowledging that machine learning-powered the app. By the same token, Amazon’s Siri works alongside its Echo system, and it is the AI capability that allows the request to be processed without the user having to touch the screen or any buttons. Because these systems are so integrated into our everyday lives, many people do not recognize them for what they are and think of AI as a futuristic concept.
As well as personal assistants in our homes, any of us who transact on web or mobile platforms frequently find ourselves interacting with AI. Most of the customer services in financial, delivery, or utility service companies start with us opening a ‘conversation’ with a chatbot. While they can be very frustrating and send customers around in circles, they can be helpful in finding answers to ‘frequently asked questions’ or putting us in a queue to chat with a human advisor.
AI and fun can go hand in hand
Tech-based industries probably deploy AI most successfully as it is integrated into their platforms from the outset. One industry that has AI embedded into its very existence is the online gambling one. By ‘learning’ from people’s previous interactions with a platform, artificial intelligence rapidly curates a personalized experience for online casino players and shows them games and promotions to appeal to them. So, if you are playing at a fast withdrawal online casino, you will be presented with games that offer fast and easy ways to get your winnings. The algorithm knows this will appeal to you and shows you more of what it thinks you want to see.
What does AI know about you?
However, as we all know, the algorithm does not always get it right and sometimes presents us with seemingly irrelevant information. An excellent example of this occurs on social media platforms where cookies on previous internet searches have left a misleading trail for the AI to follow up on. We have all most likely experienced searching for a particular thing to buy, possibly as a present for an elderly relative, to find our feed filled up with adverts for mobility aids or possibly retirement homes. If you have time to spare, it can be pretty entertaining to see how far astray you can lead the algorithm. However, you probably have better things to do with your time, and AI is supposed to assist us.
Helping humanity
One area where AI is helping humanity is in medicine, where it is used in disease diagnosis and detection. AI has the advantage of not needing to go to sleep and can analyze collected data at a rate that would be impossible for a human to compete with. IBM claims its technology has been incorporated into an AI model used to monitor premature babies that is 75% accurate in predicting severe sepsis. In these instances, the technology is literally saving lives. This is particularly powerful as the babies are totally helpless and unable to communicate with their careers in any way. However, data and AI can tell a story for them. If anything can be done to make pre and post-natal care easier, this is something that is surely good for society.
A call for a pause.
Whether we like it or not, AI and machine learning are part of our everyday lives, from banking to entertainment and driving to healthcare and education. We might imagine it is something that is going to change everything in the future, but truth be told, it is already changing so much of what we do. The challenge will always be to ensure humans remain in control of the AI rather than vice-versa. This was drawn into sharp focus last year when a group of tech leaders signed an open letter demanding a pause in the development of AI systems to allow government oversight to expand and catch up.
