Beyond the AI Singularity: Are we ready for what comes next?

The world is about to suffer a seismic shift, and most likely we are not ready for it.

Since the Industrial Age began in 1760, humanity as a whole has been undergoing cultural, societal and economic paradigm shifts at an increasingly rapid pace. 

From the dawn of steam and coal that transformed the world in its entirety, to the Machine Age that began in 1880 when oil and electricity became the life blood of our society, less and less time is passing between world changing advancements. 

The Information Age, sparked into existence with the creation of the humble transistor in 1947, was followed breathlessly by the Space Age that began with the launch of Sputnik-1 in 1957, a mere ten years later. 

These days it's impossible for humanity to imagine living in an unconnected world, where news and messages took days, weeks, and even years to arrive. 

The internet, that the Information Age ushered in, changed the face of the world dramatically, and irrevocably.

And now we - humanity - are on the verge of the next, great and perhaps terrifying step, which will change us into something our grandparents could never recognise.

The AI Age

On November 30, 2022, with the launch of ChatGPT, we entered the AI age.

In the first year of its launch, generative AI has already caused seismic shifts in industry, culture and society. 

From students using it to write their term papers, professionals using it to write application letters, and businesses using it to perform functions once handled by employees, AI has rapidly become entrenched in our society as an invaluable tool. 

Since its initial release, every major tech company has been developing and releasing their own AI tools with a variety of specialisations from art, research, video generation and more. 

As of the last count, there are more than 300 AI-based tools available across the web.

And yet like all paradigm shifting events, it has brought its own troubles to us as well.

Its rapid spread has brought forward concerns regarding AI ethics, consumer protection, and cybersecurity. 

AI algorithms scrape data from the internet in order to train themselves, which often means using copyrighted material that it has no right to.

Governments have been slow to react, with the European Union being first in the world to pass regulation regarding AI and their use. 

How EU is handling change, and the rest isn't

On December 8, 2023, the EU passed the Artificial Intelligence Act. 

It defined four levels of risk involved, which were minimal to no risk, limited risk, high risk and unacceptable risk.

Unacceptable risk involves systems that are considered a clear threat to the safety, livelihoods and rights of people. 

All cases in this level will be banned, from social scoring by governments to toys using voice assistance.

High risk generally involves AI involved in critical infrastructure, education or vocational training, essential services, law enforcement or the administration. 

All these are all placed under significant regulation and will require detailed documentation and human oversight.

Limited risk refers to AI systems with specific transparency obligations. When using AI systems such as chatbots, users should be made aware that they are interacting with a machine so they can take an informed decision on whether or not to continue the interaction.

Minimal to no risk involves free use of minimal-risk AI, including applications such as AI-enabled video games or spam filters.

While the regulation has passed, implementation will take some time as governments set up or adjust to the new systems. 

The second half of 2024 is the earliest time the regulation could become applicable to operators.

China released the "New Generation AI Development Plan" in 2017, and the regulations in China encompass data security, AI ethics, and export controls on AI technologies.

The country is working on AI standards and certification processes with its recent draft published on regulation for generative AI and is seeking public input on the new rules.

The US lacks any form of comprehensive federal law concerning AI, leaving much of it to sector specific regulations or federal agencies. 

Many other major countries such as India and the UAE are merely in the discussion stage and have made no attempts at regulation. 

Though this can be expected to change in the following year as the impact of AI, and its use becomes more widespread.

The sticky issue of copyrights

Copyrights are another major issue sparked by the use of AI by the public. Some experts believe the applicability of copyrights will boil down to the complexity of the prompts used.

There have already been cases regarding users generating content based on the work of others and using it as their own.

Andres Guadamuz, an academic specialising in AI and intellectual property law at the UK's University of Sussex, told the Verge in an interview, this will be an ongoing issue when it comes to granting copyright for works generated with the help of AI.

"If you just type 'cat by van Gogh', I don't think that's enough to get copyright in the US," he says. "But if you start experimenting with prompts and produce several images and start fine-tuning your images, start using seeds, and start engineering a little more, I can totally see that being protected by copyright."

Despite all this, 2023 saw a massive boom in the use of generative AI across all parts of human life, from work and business to pleasure and personal use. 

Many have embraced its utility and the ease it brings into everyday life.

The year 2024 is going to be rife with AI-related issues as the world adjusts to its new paradigm; the fallout can already be seen in IT companies replacing hundreds of low level coders with AI tools, lawyers attempting to use it for their legal research, or even students using it to do their assignments.

While regulations from the EU is a good first and forward thinking step, the lack of action from the rest of the world is likely going to result in a time of serious readjustment for people across all walks of life. 

AI is not going to take over humanity. But, humanity may become overly reliant on it.