CHAPTER 33 – TECHNOLOGY AND THE PHYSICAL WORLD Societal impact of AI
Benefits of AI for society • AI can perform repetitive tasks more efficiently than humans to save time and money.
• AI can prevent crime by detecting suspicious activity.
• AI can diagnose diseases and make healthcare available to everyone around the clock.
• Self-driving vehicles can cut down on accidents and allow people to use their time more productively.
Drawbacks of AI for society
• Unemployment could increase as roles carried out by humans are replaced with AI. • Storage of data could lead to an increase in the theft of personal information. • Personalised treatment could decline in healthcare. • AI makes decisions based on what it has observed, so it can learn and repeat human bias.
Environmental impact of AI
Benefits of AI for the environment • AI can monitor and predict energy use to make homes and cities more energy efficient.
• AI can accurately predict weather patterns, which allows renewable energy to be used more efficiently.
• Self-driving vehicles can reduce congestion and carbon emissions.
• AI-powered satellites can identify pollution and deforestation in its early stages to allow governments to take action.
Drawbacks of AI for the environment
• Extraction and transport of the raw materials needed to build AI systems causes pollution.
• Data servers that power AI systems use massive amounts of energy, which contributes to carbon emissions.
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: Fig. 33.9 AI can make our homes more energy efficient
TEST TUBE
7. In a group, discuss which of the advantages and which of the drawbacks of AI you think will have the greatest impact on society and why.
) Fig. 33.10 AI systems use a huge amount of energy
Elements of Science 325 : Fig. 33.8 A self-driving car