ONE of the so-called improvements to our modern lifestyle is said to be ‘AI’ or the advent of Artificial Intelligence. I spend a lot of my time completing research online, mainly looking for financial information both here and overseas, so I am most particular about the source and its validity, especially if I am going into print with my findings or contemplating investment on the basis of that research.

But how might that work out when AI takes over our lives via our phones and computers?

We see nightly on our TV screens examples of how easy it is for skilled operatives to deceive using available AI technology, which, while only in its infancy now, can develop at a mind-boggling rate as the experts refine the process.

In the hands of scammers from lands of wherever, this immoral process of extracting money from the gullible, old and untrained could increase to becoming the near perfect method of fraud and deception.

It alarms me greatly that scam fraud is common and developing at a rapid rate in a country which is supposed to be home to one of the better educated societies.

Yet it happens here right now, and with AI it can only develop into the number one form of deception and financial extraction.

Why?

Because AI technology is likely to become so good that the user will not be able to test the validity of the information presented or the source from which it emanates.

It pains me to admit that this horse has already bolted with no hope of re-capture.

The social implications here could be devastating.

Who do we trust once AI is perfected?

The answer in short may well be nobody.

It is difficult enough now and can only get a lot worse in a very short period of time.

We already know not to have anything to do with phone calls and emails offering us products or deals because of the high probability of being scammed.

Once you detail bank or credit card information you are an easy target for scammers.

People need to take care with full responsibility in order to protect their assets, but we in Australia seem to be far too easy going with these issues.

Often we prefer to be good and kind to unknown callers, divulging too much security information to strangers.

When I think of ‘AI’, it is something I had been doing for 40 years when owning and operating farming and grazing properties.

But that ‘AI’ stood for artificial insemination and was used to introduce new breeds of cattle and to breed faster developing prime lambs for the butcher trade.

But I digress, so let us get back to the frightening development of Artificial Intelligence, which I think will see massive financial losses ahead for many Australians.

Already in Western Australia, medical authorities have banned Doctors from using it.

So how often does your GP check his screen whenever you attend an appointment?

If our medical fraternity can’t trust ‘AI’, my advice to you is never go near it.

It seems pointless to me that many aware people are calling for Governments to legislate against AI or try to control it.

Just look at how regularly we all break simple rules like driving above the speed limit or jaywalking at a pedestrian crossing.

Legislate all you care to but having our community commit 100 percent to obeying those rules is fantasy.

In jest I must say “what could possibly go wrong” if we play with AI.

Whilst AI was invented to be a lazy man’s method of communicating and sourcing information, we need to appreciate the risks that go with it and as I have previously opined, don’t go anywhere near it, which is the only safe way for self-protection.

Be well warned my friends and use your intelligence rather than accept what AI delivers.

By John BLACKBOURN