Questions for AI will persist for generations

“Hey, Google” is something we commonly hear people ask when people have questions. What does the future of AI look like for members of different generations? Will they grow up in a world like us where AI is something used for help or something that has taken over the world and humans almost never do anything? I asked three members of my family from differing generations to see what answers I could find.

Jane Pepperling, mother to me and former student Mikal Pepperling, said, “Technology and AI can be a scary thing because how much of the things that we do will be taken over by AI or will it be a small part of our lives and just be minimal so we still have lives, or will AI take over jobs and things humans did leaving us without easy [means] to make money.” So someone from an older generation says that AI is something that could be a good thing, but there are lots of worries that come with the creation and upgrade of AI.

The next generation born after 1980 said something close but also a little different than the previous generation. Mikal said, “It can go both ways. Lots of people could be displaced from work.Without answers, there will be more poverty and disparity. Good things get done more efficiently with less emotion and bugs in the system. [This] gives people the opportunity to express things if used correctly.”

Now we head into the generation of today. The kids in junior high high school are the type of kids who like AI . They like the increase in technology and everything that comes with it. The more technology there is, the more opportunities there are to have cooler games, more advanced toys and even dolls like in the movie “m3gan.” Mikal’s niece Nora said technology “could go both ways. If people use AI for what it should be, it would be a good thing, but if people use it in the wrong way, it would be a very bad thing. Like in the movie ‘m3gan’ where they give an AI robot the ability to do anything, [including to] evolve to keep their owner safe,” so even the current generation has worries about the advancement of artificial intelligence and technology.

Mikal also expressed worry for his other niece who is part of the next generation of kids. Will she have to deal with toys like m3gan or will her life be better without AI? He said, “I worry that she will grow up in a world where AI rules all. Will she get to live a life being able to do things on her own or will robots do everything for her.” He said it is something he worries about for his niece Rainah.

So no matter which generation you think about, as AI grows, the questions each generation will have to address will evolve as well.