Are you scared of AI ? Probably not if you work in the sector . But there ’ s a chasm between what we know – that AI is currently a bit of a misnomer and not nearly as capable or autonomous as it might be – and what Joe Public assumes , which is largely a potential that exists in dystopian sci-fi .

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To some extent , overbeefing the abilities of AI is a nice sales tactic . It may even be good for the morale and ambitions of the sector at large . It could certainly put a few cents on your share price . But those ends are short sighted . Eventually , we are going to have to convince the world that AI is a force for good , not some gigantic conspiracy to take someone ’ s job away or mine their inner soul in the name of better targeted marketing .

At that point , we will all be asking ourselves how to roll back the rhetoric to a manageable level , at which point the industry will be accused of charlatanism . Or , worse , fraud . Getting scared yet ?

These are problems of our own making . AI is exciting and has lots of potential to do lots of good things – curing disease , cutting crime and , yes , adding value to companies – but we must measure the hyperbolic slant we use to sell the idea of AI , or those benefits will disappear into a legislatory quagmire and the reality will land even further away from the pitch . Where ’ s the added value in that ?

LAURA BERRILL laura . berrill @ bizclikmedia . com © 2021 | ALL RIGHTS RESERVED aimagazine . com 3