Artificial intelligence will change people's lives, say experts in Sharjah
- From superintelligence to posthumanity
- Ethics, inclusion and sustainability
- Humans and robots
- How will AI transform our future?
- US, China and the Middle East
That artificial intelligence (AI) is here to stay is more than a fact. The enigma lies in how it will affect the geopolitical, economic, social, health, cultural and everyday life of citizens in the future.
This topic, which is of both interest and concern, could not be missing from the Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF), especially if we take into account the importance that the United Arab Emirates is giving it, not in vain did it become in 2017 the first country in the world to have a specific ministry for AI, a portfolio held by the young Omar Sultan al-Olama. One of its objectives was to position itself vis-à-vis the United States and China.
Experts in the field gathered at the SIBF to discuss the past, present and future of AI from different perspectives. In these debates, it became clear that the United Arab Emirates is investing heavily in this field, as well as the advantages and disadvantages that it can generate depending on its use and the field in which it is used. More sustainability, but also more authoritarianism. It all depends on how intelligently we use it.
The prestigious expert and researcher Jasim Haji, president of the International Group on Artificial Intelligence (IGOAI), in which some 40 countries from North America, Europe, Oceania, South Asia and the Middle East are represented, told Atalayar that international collaboration is very important in the field of AI in order to face together the global challenges and opportunities it offers.
From superintelligence to posthumanity
For this international expert, who spoke on a panel entitled ‘The origin of AI: from superintelligence to posthumanity’, AI is a tool that will advance humanity in areas such as health, sustainability and economic growth. In healthcare, he said, there will be people who, thanks to AI, will be able to live much healthier lives, as it will be possible to apply more personalised treatments to each case. ‘It will be possible to do more precise work,’ he said.
With regard to sustainability, Haji explained the role that AI is playing in optimising energy management, in agriculture or in improving the supply chain, for example. And he did not forget the world of education, where, he said, ‘in the future we will have much more customised education for children’.
Ethics, inclusion and sustainability
Asked whether he was in favour of controlling artificial intelligence through laws or more specific regulations, the researcher said that it depended, in the sense that the most important thing is that humans use AI in an ethical and intelligent way ‘rather than thinking that it is going to control us’. Obviously, he added, there will be activities that can be done by artificial intelligence at a higher quality and faster than humans, ‘it would probably be unwise not to use them’.
Jasim Haji said that AI is used as virtual assistants, as advisors, as doctors, and also to predict the future and the actions to be taken. In this line, the important thing is to advance in a ‘more ethical, inclusive and sustainable artificial intelligence ecosystem’, said one of the world's leading experts.
Humans and robots
What is a fact is that the inclusion of artificial intelligence in the daily lives of citizens is becoming increasingly obvious, which, to a certain extent, creates concern, which is why it is not a science fiction film that we think that a world in which robots and humans coexist could come about. We wanted to know the opinion of this expert, who did not hesitate to affirm that ‘we are already coexisting; humans and robots are together, so we don't have to think too much about the future’.
What this speaker, author of several books on AI and technology, has no doubt about is that ‘the majority of society will use artificial intelligence’.
How will AI transform our future?
In this panel, moderated by Abdul Rahman Wadi, Jasim Haji was joined by telecommunications engineer and AI expert Pedro Uría-Recio, who, after a brief overview of the origin of AI in the 1950s with the Cold War and its evolution until it reached generative AI, agreed that artificial intelligence will affect all levels and, therefore, human beings and their daily lives.
This Spaniard based in Malaysia, who has published his first book: How AI will transform our future, recalled that AI at the biological level will be able to generate gene sequences, amino acid sequences in a protein, which means that in the future it will be possible to change the human being itself, and not only by changing biology, but with technologies.
He also spoke of those other technologies that in the medium to long term are going to be totally transformative, such as quantum technology, that is, the use of quantum computers to execute artificial algorithms; and super intelligence, which, he explained, means creating a superior intelligence ‘with all the implications that this could have’.
Uría-Recio, in statements to Atalayar, was critical of the actions of the World Economic Forum, since in his opinion the application of some principles such as universal basic income is not going to work, ‘I think it would generate much more inequality’. He also stressed that in the European Union regulation ‘has been over-regulated’ compared to the Arab Emirates, ‘where the development of AI is being done quite well’. However, he added that the issue of regulation is very complex, although it is important to avoid over-regulation, as it can be a brake on economic development. Another criticism, he added, is that of creating monopolies in artificial intelligence, which he believes is against the interests of most people.
If Professor Haji spoke of the fact that humans and robots already coexist, when asked whether we citizens should be afraid, Uría-Recio did not hesitate to say that it is more likely that humans will confront each other over different visions and opinions on how to manage AI than that it will be robots who confront them.
US, China and the Middle East
The race among countries for the top spots has already begun. Uría-Recio pointed out that the United States is one of the world leaders in artificial intelligence, particularly applied to the consumer; while on the other side we would have China with a different policy, as it does not want to have user algorithms. China, the speaker added, exercises tight control over freedom of expression and wants to avoid the possibility of having chatbots that can contribute to the expression of opinions that are uncomfortable for the government, hence, he added, it has a regulation with more obstacles, although with more facilities for business applications, for industry, for the army... ‘China is very advanced, that is a reality,’ he said.
Uría-Recio did not forget a third block: the Middle East, with the Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia at the forefront, as they are investing heavily in AI. ‘It is possible that, in the future, and this is one of the things that I mention in the book, we will have a world with two systems: The United States and China, and a third regional ecosystem in the Middle East'.
On the other hand, he talked about the ‘collectivist nature’ of AI rather than the individualistic nature of AI. ‘If we know that AI is going to lead us to a more collectivist future, we have to push towards more individualistic forms of management, towards forms of management where people develop their critical capacity and do not delegate their thinking to AI'.
By way of conclusion, Uría-Recio said that AI is inevitable, that it is here to stay, that some people will do better and others worse, just like different countries... Regarding the advantages and disadvantages, as reflected in his book, the expert highlighted income redistribution, sustainability and Equality versus authoritarianism, unemployment and caste politics.
From 5 November until Sunday, the Sharjah Exhibition Centre is hosting the 43rd edition of the Book Fair of this emirate recognised by UNESCO as the ‘Arab Capital of Culture’.