Benefits and Risks of Artificial Intelligence Explained

Artificial Intelligence is penetrating both our everyday lives and the business processes of different organizations. Scientists, engineers, and ordinary people are discussing both the positive effects and risks of this ever-evolving technology. In this article, we will cover the benefits and drawbacks of artificial intelligence.

The world’s largest enterprises like Google and Amazon recognize the advantages that Artificial Intelligence brings to a great variety of industries. Without a doubt, it is becoming a must for every company seeking growth and scalability to adopt AI-related systems if they want to stay competitive in the market. However, just like any other technology of the future, AI has its own risks that should be taken into account.

What are the Benefits of Artificial Intelligence?

Empowering features of AI can be applied in any industry, from healthcare to manufacturing and finances, and significantly improve their overall performance and increase ROIs. Let’s have a closer look at the real benefits of artificial intelligence.

Less Human Errors

People tend to make mistakes once in a while. The key advantage of AI is that when programmed properly, it is error-free. Taking tasks off the humans’ shoulders and giving them to AI-powered software allows reducing the number of man-made mistakes and delivering more accurate and precise results.

24/7 in Operation

Computers and machines don’t need breaks and don’t get tired, while people need to have rest and go on vacation in order to stay productive. Technologies are available 24/7 and enable a non-stop working process with no downtimes and delays.

Automation and Optimization of Routine and Repetitive Tasks

By delegating time-consuming operations to Artificial Intelligence, companies can decrease the amount of workload and let employees focus on important tasks that require human interaction and judgment. As a result, the staff’s work efficiency increases while daily workflows are optimized.

Fast and Accurate Decision Making

AI delivers insightful analytics that can be used efficiently in the decision-making process. Based on detailed reports and real-time data, employees can evaluate KPIs and adjust existing operations to get better end results. Additionally, Artificial Intelligence can take over making decisions on several tasks, based on the collected data and using a set of algorithms.

Increased Speed and Quality of Work

If we sum up the above-mentioned points, we may surely state that AI technology can reduce costs and time spent on data and operation management, as well as enhance the productivity and quality of work delivered by employees. It helps to detect and eliminate errors, predict failures, enables flexibility and scalability.

Does AI Have Any Drawbacks?

Despite all the advantages and positive impact on the business world, AI has some drawbacks. Let’s figure out what they are.

Bugs and Cyberattacks Can Come at a Price

Like any other software, Artificial Intelligence may be vulnerable to malware, and AI-powered apps can crash at times. As AI tools are increasingly entrusted with sensitive data or even making decisions and performing tasks where lives are at stake, such as driving cars or performing heart surgeries, it is paramount to ensure the ultimate security and flawless performance of AI software and make it hackproof.

Coding Challenges

Another important aspect of Artificial Intelligence tools like voice recognition systems is that sometimes a person commands one thing but means another. Developers are striving to make AI software understand users’ intent and sometimes even their emotional state and mood and not always take the commands literally so that the software would better serve its users. It is also necessary to make sure that the commands given to Artificial Intelligence are reasonable and don’t pose any danger for the user and other beings.

Relatively High Costs

Development, integration, data migration, and other processes associated with AI implementation take time and money and not all companies can afford this kind of expense. Any machine requires maintenance and should be updated regularly in order to keep its performance as high and flawless as possible. One of the biggest problems of AI technology is that it can be expensive to apply and support. 

At the same time, we can’t but note that more and more software vendors are adding AI functionality for their products out of the box. Even small businesses on a tight budget can benefit from basic AI functionality, like lead scoring features in their CRM or email marketing software, or business intelligence tools for reporting and data visualization.

Unemployment

Even though the film industry keeps spreading the idea of AI taking over humanity, it’s unlikely to happen. However, there is still a risk of the technology’s impact that can adversely affect the labor market. According to some studies, Artificial Intelligence will replace more than 25% of jobs across the US by the year 2030. At the same time, the technology itself can also become a job creator, especially when such multi-billion companies as Amazon plan to invest in training for in-demand jobs to let people evolve and grow professionally alongside with the IT industry. Yes, AI will displace some jobs, but it will also create new ones.

Do the Benefits of Artificial Intelligence Outweigh the Risks?

By all means, the development of Artificial Intelligence will benefit mankind even more in the future than it does now. Taking into account all the risks, it’s in our power to minimize them and apply modern technology safely and properly.

If you want to know more about the role of AI in business, reach out to our team. We will be glad to assist you with any questions and take on your Artificial Intelligence software development project.