Artificial intelligence (AI) and regulation, are two words that are inseparable in the media these days. But what is the regulation of artificial intelligence? According to Wikipedia, this is the development of public sector policies and laws for promoting and regulating artificial intelligence. Governments, authoritative bodies and tech companies around the world are already either currently working on developing a framework for regulating AI or have already implemented it. With all these entities making such a concerted effort to regulate artificial intelligence it begs the question, what would happen if artificial intelligence is not regulated?
I've compiled a list of possible scenarios that might take place if artificial intelligence is not regulated and is left to grow at the rate at which it is currently. To keep it from sounding like the effects of not regulating artificial intelligence are only bad or only good I've divided these scenarios into a best-case scenario, a mid-case scenario and a worst-case scenario. Like this, I can highlight all the possible effects of artificial intelligence not being regulated.
Best-case scenario🟢
A best-case scenario would be one in which there are no negative effects stemming from artificial intelligence not being regulated.
Because artificial intelligence hasn't been regulated the technology grows and thrives. Artificial intelligence is used as a tool for the benefit of humanity. It is applied in different industries such as health, finance, agriculture, education, gaming and even the hospitality and service industry via the use of robots that serve human beings' every need😄. AI engineers and scientists aren't restricted in what they can do when developing artificial intelligent technology so they go crazy with innovation. A lot of artificial intelligence tech and code is now open source and readily available to anyone anywhere in the world not just big companies or governments, anyone can use the technology to make a meaningful impact. All of this happens rapidly and within as little as 10 years human beings are living in a Wakanda-like utopia powered by artificial intelligence.
Mid-case scenario🟠
A mid-case scenario captures some of the positive effects and some of the negative effects of artificial intelligence not being regulated. This scenario includes all the effects from the best-case scenario.
Because artificial intelligence hasn't been regulated, companies use the technology to make a large number of human jobs redundant which leads to mass layoffs all around the world. Since the technology is now widely available and easily accessible by anyone, sexual predators that have the necessary tech skills use the technology to generate child porn deep fake videos, something which is unfortunately already happening today. Hackers and criminals use artificial intelligence technology to easily hack into systems, train artificial intelligence models on how to create bombs, guns and chemical weapons and use the technology to spread false information on social media very quickly. Governments use artificial intelligence to spy on and control their citizens. All of which happens in the shortest amount of time.
Worst-case scenario 🔴
A worst-case scenario wouldn't have any positive effects whatsoever from artificial intelligence not being regulated. This scenario includes all the negative effects from the mid-case scenario.
Because artificial intelligence is never regulated, humanity completely loses control of the technology and it now becomes sentient (able to perceive and feel things), can self-replicate and has malicious intent for human beings. It hacks into our financial systems, makes us all go broke and sends the world economies into the worst recession ever seen. It then cuts off all forms of telecommunication, so no internet, no phone calls and no GPS. This then leads to serious looting, riots and eventually a global shutdown. For the grand finale, it takes control of the nuclear arsenals of the world's nuclear superpowers then launches every single active nuclear missile in existence and annihilates the entire planet. Something you'd see in a post-apocalyptic movie😅.
Why regulation is important❗️
Does regulation stifle innovation? The late John F Kennedy once said in a speech that "man in his quest for knowledge and progress is determined and cannot be deterred.". With that being said I don't think any amount of regulation is enough to stop us or slow us from achieving what we want. In my understanding regulation is just a way of defining boundaries and limits. Everything needs regulation because if there wasn't any we'd live in a world of complete chaos. Governments and authoritative bodies take these initiatives to keep us safe from the dangers that may come up from all the different things that require regulation. It's also worth noting that regulation should be done strictly with the protection and safety of the public in mind no other exterior motive as this could then lead to innovation being stifled.
On the question of which scenario is more likely to occur if artificial intelligence is not regulated it's difficult to say because nobody knows the future. I see all these scenarios both positive and negative as very possible and could happen. Though for the negatives we can at least sleep well at night knowing that regulation frameworks are constantly being developed to prevent them from happening😄. If you found this article interesting or insightful kindly like, share and comment. Thank you for reading🙏.