Will Artificial Intelligence Upend Human Agency?

Artificial intelligence (AI) is arguably the most consequential phenomenon in the modern era. It is plausible to project that AI will radically reconfigure political, economic, and social landscapes globally within this decade. With its immense generative capability, Price Waterhouse Coopers (PwC) forecast that AI technology will potentially contribute $15 billion to the global economy by 2030. This is the equivalent of the combined current annual GDPs of India, the United Kingdom, France, Russia, Canada, and Italy.

Despite the rosy outlook, there is an ongoing debate on what the future holds for human agency in the face of all-encompassing AI as it is rapidly growing and permeating all aspects of life. It already serves as our personal digital assistant performing our mundane daily tasks, ChatGPT generating prompt-based, detailed responses to various bodies of knowledge, ultra-advanced robotics undertaking military operations, healthcare services, manufacturing, legal procedures, and many other skill-based tasks.

Humanoid robots are no longer confined within the bounds of science fiction (Sci-Fi) movies. They are a reality, coexisting with us, and are finessed each second by AI’s generative capability to think and process like humans. A little less than five years ago, the first AI-powered humanoid robot Sophia was introduced at the United Nations headquarters in New York. I was fortunate to be among the delegates who witnessed Sophia engaging intelligently in a brief dialogue with the United Nations Deputy Secretary General, Amina Mohammed. In the discourse, Sophia assured the audience that AI-powered robots are here to work alongside humans to make the world a better place, and not otherwise.

To date, at least nine other humanoid robots have been developed. Sophia made history by becoming the first robot citizen and Ambassador to the United Nations on Innovation for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The existence of AI-powered robots presents unlimited possibilities to accelerate human development in critical policy areas such as climate change, food security, mobility, housing, healthcare, etc.

Humanoid robots are just one facet of the vast constellation of AI technology. Its development is proliferating at an unprecedented scale following the growing competition among tech giants Google, Amazon, Meta, and Microsoft, each vying to build the most advanced AI machine. This trend has been lauded as a watershed of the tech revolution, while on the other hand, it is kindling trepidation across the spectrum of stakeholders.

Policymakers are growing anxious as they perceive AI developing more rapidly than their pace to reform and regulate it. They are grappling with how to formulate AI regulations while at the same time, stimulating innovation and growth. The most recent measure to regulate AI by the European Union (EU AI Act) has been met with pushback, notably from developers such as Open AI, the company that has pioneered ChatGPT technology. The underlying argument is that the EU AI Act, the first AI regulation ever to be formulated globally is excessive and obtrusive to innovators’ property rights.

To the contrary, Dr. Geoffrey Hinton argues for utmost caution and considerable regulation. It is remarkable to note that this call comes from one of the world’s renowned computer scientists, also known as “the godfather of AI”. Dr. Hinton has pioneered neural networks for over 5 decades, a technique that trains computer systems to process data just like a human brain does. This technique has evolved into what we have today as AI technology, hence, his moniker, the godfather of AI.

Dr. Hinton spared no moment to admonish the world about his own brainchild, stressing that if necessary regulatory frameworks aren’t established, AI will eventually overpower human agency. In practice, it means that AI’s autonomous power would gradually supersede humans in making world-altering decisions that would lack crucial human attributes such as rational reasoning and empathy. The technology may also be weaponized by bad actors who may manipulate it to propagate misinformation, systemic bias, cyberattacks, and acts of global-scale terrorism.

The worst-case scenario may also transpire when AI, quintessentially replaces humans in shaping public opinions on whom to vote for or influencing the policymaking process on whether a country should go to war. This projection is affirmed by a group of scientists and tech CEOs who recently wrote an open letter calling for a pause on AI developments, citing that the technology poses a significant risk of human extinction.

Relegating Dr. Hinton’s warning to the realm of exaggeration would be utterly reckless. For the person who has been studying and pioneering AI technology for over fifty years, his caution carries a great deal of authority. The most recent labor strikes by Hollywood writers and actors are the beginning of the birth pangs that Dr. Hinton has been alerting us of. One of their (writers and actors) major grievances is the utilization of AI in the movie industry which they claim is infringing upon their intellectual property and depriving them of job opportunities.

Governments and the international community walk on a thin line balancing between regulating AI and reaping the benefits of its full potential. In the wake of major shifting trends such as demographic structures, climate change, and charged geopolitical competition, nations and entities strive for the most advanced AI technology to clout the world’s future. However, the impact of unfettered AI competition is paradoxical. Its benefits may be realized at the expense of human agency and existence.

Regardless of one’s position on AI, the critical question remains, what is the outlook of AI and human agency in the next 10, 15, 20 years? Will we see a future where AI empowers humans to propel themselves into an epoch of secure and inclusive prosperity? Or will it drive humans into irrelevance and the world into further chaos? If left unchecked, it is obvious that AI poses a significant threat to human agency. I submit that despite the uncertainty, the human agency will remain in its rightful place as long as we make a concerted effort to regulate AI. Failure to do so will be a dereliction of our sacred duty to govern and self-fulfillment of Dr. Hinton’s prophecy.