Advancements In Technology - A Blessing Or A Curse?
Since the dawn of intelligence on Earth there has been a desire for progression and development. For thousands of years, we humans have attempted to make life easier by making technological improvements that now impact our daily lives - often without even realising it.
The last three or four generations have seen development more rapid than at any time in history and it could be argued that the stakes are higher than ever when it comes to having concerns over the impact of technological developments.
No area of technological development has more cause for concern than artificial intelligence (also known as AI) and there are some pretty prominent technological figures that have themselves expressed grave concerns over the rapid progress being made towards experiential AI and quantum computing.
The question is; are these technological advancements likely to make our lives better or worse?
At this moment in time there is no true AI in existence. That is, artificial intelligence that has the capacity for self improvement and self teaching. We have AI in the sense that computers can improve their outputs as a result of increased data sets - think Netflix offering you a suggested movie based on your previous browsing history or your email account sending emails to spam based on your previous actions. But these programmes cannot develop beyond this without more data being fed in.
To achieve true AI there first needs to be the establishment of quantum computing. Google have very clearly and publicly made it their aim to achieve quantum supremacy and in October 2019 working alongside NASA they demonstrated their ability to do just that when they showed off technology that could compute in seconds what would take supercomputers thousands of years to calculate - this was quantum computing in action.
One of the biggest concerns surrounding AI is that it has the potential to become exponentially powerful - but also, that the control of it (if that is possible) could lie in the hands of a few - rather than democratic bodies such as governments.
Elon Musk is perhaps a surprising figurehead against true AI given his push for technological advancements in other fields of work but he nevertheless talks of true AI as being potentially devastating for humankind.
The reality is that most of us are happy to embrace anything that makes our lives easier. AI as we know it today is not overly threatening and is certainly controllable and there is no doubt it makes our lives easier.
Most of us will use machine learning AI on a daily basis - think Google Maps providing us with our best routes, understanding congestion and able to calculate route speeds based on data that it has from various users.
When we want to apply for a bank loan or move money around there are advanced algorithms that can process (at least in part) our credit application or detect fraud. Our home assistants such as Alexa, Siri and Google Nest can provide a tonne of functionality that make our day to day lives easier. Technology that makes things simpler and easier but in a non-threatening way is likely the happy medium. Take Quick Consign for example, our digital waste management platform has so much functionality that makes the day to day process of waste management so much easier. Crucially, it also makes waste management more efficient and more secure as everything is stored securely on the cloud but is accessible from anywhere with a data connection.
We are perhaps a long way from machine automated waste management and there are hundreds of arguments as to why that would be a bad thing. But taking the best parts of technology and combining them with the expertise, adaptability and common sense that can only come from a human can provide the best of both worlds.
We truly believe that technology can and should make our lives easier, more efficient and safer - and we truly believe that Quick Consign is our way of playing a small part in our greater technological eco-system.
If you have not yet seen our system in action, why not call us today to book a demonstration and find out how other waste management companies are benefiting from Quick Consign.
