Security

Though people are eager to see what artificial intelligence will bring, the sense of privacy is often a concern. With systems that involve cameras that detect faces and voices, and machines that can retrieve sensitive information, there grows a lack of security. There’s already been use of artificial intelligence in wiretapping and searching for key trigger words (that might indicate terrorism) spoken over the phone. This is quite a breach of privacy, though most of the public is now aware that phone calls can be listened to (or transcripts can be read) without an individual’s authorization, few are aware that an artificially intelligent robot may be eavesdropping (Borowski, 2010).

But in addition to this, we’ve reached a point where we are constantly connected to items that have GPS tracking abilities pinpointing our locations throughout the day and we input our every activity in order for these systems to truly and intelligently connect with us. Think about how much information you enter into your phone so that it can remind you of events and calendar notes, respond to texts by just listening to your voice, play your voicemails or read you your emails; all of this seems so ingrained in our daily, techno-filled, modern lives that we rarely stop to think what our phones could say or do if they grew a mind of their own.

There has always been a fear that, if robots could act and think like us, how soon would they start having the capacity to attack and harm us? In the end, this is what impacts our sense of security in the most basic and impactful regard. It is hard to say how we could prevent robots to access emotions that would fuel crime- if they were built to mimic the minds of humans, would they not have the same dark flaws? And would they soon want to overcome their makers or perhaps entirely wipe out their oppressors? It is, perhaps, only time that will tell.