2016 was indeed a tough year; we were overwhelmed with words such as job shortage, economic crisis, inadequate wage, power overuse and incurable disease. If we can solve all those problems this year, how idealistic would it be? Even if that does not happen, how romantic is it to start showing improvements?

Job shortage is a troublesome issue that critically influences people, either directly or indirectly. Having no job means no source of income. This eventually destroys our everyday life and makes it hopeless. People often say that getting employed is practically impossible. This shows that we are going through a severe recession.

Incurable disease is another troublesome issue. The world is and was under fear due to inexorable viruses.  One of those was Ebola. It took away so many innocent people’s lives and gave unforgettable sorrow and fright.

If there is a way to produce more jobs and find cures before viruses harm people, will people be willing to welcome and support it? If that also has a potential to exacerbate the unemployment crisis and harm people, will they still be willing to welcome and support it? That double-faced “solution” is actually being developed in the present day.
 

Two sides of quarters

The “solution” is AI, artificial intelligence. Recently, an AI based medical treatment system named Watson came into spotlight. This news makes us acknowledge that the AI period is approaching. However, due to the double-facedness, there are lots of disputes about it. What are the reasons that people support or oppose AI? I asked my friends for their opinions about AI.

In the interview, Brian Choi said that he thinks that AI might be dangerous if it obtains intelligence that surpasses humans’. However, with this intelligence, AI will lead the world into another stage. I believe that development is impossible without bearing risks and benefits of AI outweigh losses.

Stella Park said in the interview that AI will make our daily life more comfortable than it was until now. However, that does not apply to everyone. AI will take away our jobs and will give us discomfort, not comfort. Also, I believe that AI is too dangerous. It might be misused.

We do not know what exactly will happen in the future. However, we will eventually know it in the future. How close is that future and how far will AI develop?

To learn more about AI and listen to a professional’s opinions, I interviewed Dr. Byoung Hee Kim, a professor in Seoul National University who studies the way to realize AI by making a machine learn or study by itself.

What exactly is artificial intelligence?

Perspective and range of AI differ on the area of study because of the vast bounds of AI.

However, the AI study until now pursued on copying human’s intellectual action and doing it automatically. Recently, this kind of AI was accomplished, so we can regulate it as “narrow range” of AI. What people who study AI ultimately pursue is a technology of having cognitive ability and solving problems in an intellectual way like a human, and this is regulated as “summative” AI.

When do you think the “summative” AI will be possible?
NSTC, National Science and Technology Council, and other professional groups think that “summative” AI will not be possible in 1~20 years.

How far did the AI study reach?
AI technology is already applying in a lot of areas in a way of making people’s life more convenient, improving people’s ability, and making people work less with institutional efforts to prepare for these changes. Currently, AI technology is on its way to expand its range that includes cognition, perception, and consciousness.

People are saying that AI will worsen the unemployment crisis. How do you think about that?
Companies, engineers, and scholars who are leading AI technology development are studying with consideration of public benefits, policy, and application. However, in the world right now which is going through a complicated situation, people are concerned about the usage of this technology for private benefits. Group of people who tries to aggravate this anxiety are emphasizing the “worsen of unemployment crisis” without telling about the essence and possibility of this technology. It is true that people are often out of consideration of companies, and the reason why companies try to use AI technology is to substitute people and spend less.

What do you think about AI itself?
AI is a technology that has a far-reaching power. This technology really depends on how people use it. It might be used in a good way but also in a bad way. We need to make economic, cultural, and social systems of group and concern or prepare about this technology to use it for public benefits. I believe that AI is a technology that can help people in obtaining happiness.

Through this interview, I was able to learn about AI in detail: what this technology is, how it is and will be used, what the current stage of it is, what we should do, and more. It is a well-known fact that there are people who strongly oppose to the use of AI.

However, I learned that we have already crossed the Rubicon through this interview. I think the homework that is left for us to solve is thinking how to make use of this technology. I hope that this inexorable, double-faced technology shows only one side: the hopeful side.
 

SangJun Park 박상준
10th grade
Brother Rice high school