Will you Be Replaced by AI?
Everyone on the planet has encountered discussions about how AI is transforming the world and reshaping the global market landscape.
What Is It?
Artificial Intelligence, or AI as we commonly refer to it, is perhaps best known by most people through the GPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer) model, which has been developed since 2018 by an organisation called OpenAI.
Without delving into excessive technical details, GPT is not truly artificial intelligence, but rather a sophisticated algorithm that has processed a massive amount of text data (hundreds of billions to trillions of words) from the internet, books, websites, and other sources. It excels at tasks such as predicting the next word in a sentence based on previous words, analysing text, and reconstructing information with remarkable speed and efficiency. While additional functionalities have been integrated since its public release in 2022, its most significant characteristic remains its “unsupervised” nature, meaning it isn’t explicitly instructed what to learn.
Why Is It Considered Revolutionary?
Some experts have compared AI’s significance to that of nuclear energy as a human discovery. While such comparisons might seem dramatic, AI’s influence on political and social structures is becoming increasingly apparent, and its capability to process and analyse data at scales beyond human capacity has led to groundbreaking achievements.
Notably, the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to a team of scientists (Baker, Hassabis and Jumper) for developing an AI model that predicts protein structures with exceptional accuracy. In less than three years since its release, this AI model, called AlphaFold, has mapped over 200 million protein structures. Consider that, prior to this tool, decades of research had resulted in the mapping of only hundreds of thousands of protein structures. Traditionally, solving a single structure required years of work and could constitute an entire Ph.D. thesis.
Is It Going to Replace Us?
AI is expected to significantly impact employment across various sectors. Within the next decade, it is likely to automate numerous positions, particularly in manufacturing, data entry, and customer service. Transportation sectors will see changes through self-driving vehicles, retail through automated systems, and ad-ministrative support through advanced scheduling and accounting systems.
While some creative fields, such as content writing, graphic design, and digital marketing, may experience automation, human oversight will remain essential. However, profes-sions requiring complex decision-making, empathy, and creativity, such as healthcare, education, and leadership, will retain their human element.
Ethical Considerations
The ethical implications represent the most challenging aspect of this emerging technology. In a world still confronting human rights violations and political instability, establishing a globally accepted policy for AI presents significant challenges.
As with previous technological breakthroughs that rapidly transformed society, governments worldwide appear inadequately prepared to understand or regulate it, while private companies pursue profit-driven implementation. Furthermore, we must evaluate the implications for human education and critical thinking. According to a recent survey by the Digital Education Council, 86% of students reported using AI in their studies. The new generation’s potential dependence on these constant digital assistants raises concerns.
The concentration of such influential technology in private hands necessitates careful consideration of monitoring and regulatory frameworks.
AI in the Maritime Industry
In the coming years, AI is poised to transform the maritime industry through enhanced real- time monitoring of weather conditions, ship movements, and regulatory requirements, with emphasis on predictive maintenance and anomaly detection. Certain areas, particularly logistics, are already experiencing AI-driven changes. Port operations stand to be revolutionized through automation of cargo handling, customs processing, and scheduling, leading to reduced delays and increased efficiency.
A recent development in May 2024 saw space-focused company Privateer acquire Orbital Insight. Their TerraScope platform exemplifies how AI can analyse geospatial data to monitor supply chains, track vessel movements, and manage port congestion — all crucial aspects of maritime operations. The vision of interconnected maritime ecosystems optimizing operations, scheduling, and resource allocation through real-time data analytics appears increasingly attainable.
The Future
As AI transitions from science fiction to daily reality, it fundamentally alters how we work, interact, and think. While its efficiency and analytical capabilities drive innovation across sectors, they also highlight the irreplaceable value of human intuition, creativity, and emotional intelligence. The key to successful AI integration lies in striking a balance between techno- logical advancement and preserving essential human elements in decision-making processes. The future will require careful cultivation of distinctly human capabilities alongside technological proficiency, ensuring that AI serves as a tool for enhancement rather than replacement of human potential.
AI Tools You Did Not Know You Needed!
Claude (Anthropic)
The main competitor of ChatGPT. Claude is an AI chatbot by Anthropic, known for its ethical approach.
Mistral AI
Mistral AI develops open-source AI language models that are both high- performance and resource-efficient, suitable for various applications, from research to business solutions.
This Person Does not Exist
This tool creates realistic portraits of people who are not real. Every refresh generates a new face, thanks to AI, making it fun to see lifelike faces of fictional people.
https://this-person-does-not-exist.com
Perplexity AI
A conversational search engine that answers questions with citations from reliable scientific sources, ideal for learning or verifying information.
Pet Portraits by Google Arts & Culture
Google Arts & Culture’s Pet Portraits finds art look-alikes for your pets, matching their photos with famous paintings or sculptures, creating a fun, artistic pairing.
https://artsandculture.google.com/camera/pet-portraits
By Georgios Kantianis
