12+ Negative Impacts of Artificial Intelligence on Society We Should be Aware of

Are you searching for the negative impacts of artificial intelligence on society? If yes, then check out this blog post to explore some of the worst negative impacts of artificial intelligence of society.

“AI is likely to be either the best or worst thing to happen to humanity.” – Stephen Hawking, Theoretical Physicist

AI is the present, and it will be the future, right? Although Ai has changed our life and made it easier than ever before. Advancement in AI is also leading to a better and more comfortable future. But wait, you may know that everything has come with a price.

So what would we have to pay for AI? The most straightforward answer is we must sacrifice our jobs, privacy and many more things. Over the past year, many jobs have been replaced by AI, which is increasing daily.

In the initial days of AI, professionals estimated that AI couldn’t replace creative jobs. But when we entered 2023, AI replaced creative jobs at a rapid pace. Numerous AI tools are producing better results than professional artists and graphic designers in a matter of seconds.

The same design that can be created by a professional designer in 8 hours can be done with AI in less than a minute. This is the power of AI, but we can’t neglect the negative impacts of artificial intelligence on society. Let’s dig deep into it. 

Negative impacts of artificial intelligence on society

Here are 12 negative impacts of artificial intelligence on society:

Job Displacement and Unemployment

As we know, the generation is becoming lazy day by day. But the evolution is technologies making the work done faster than faster with every passing day. That is why companies are looking to replace employees with the help of AI.

Likewise, we have seen this in the past years, especially in 2022 to till date. People are losing their jobs at a rapid pace. Most employees thought AI robots would replace blue-collar jobs first, but today’s scenario has completely changed.

Yeah, you heard it right, AI automation tools have replaced white-collar jobs on a large scale. From content writer to junior-level developer, from web designers to graphic designers. These jobs are being replaced by AI.

Data Privacy and Security Concerns

Some people pretend to be the smartest in the world. They use VPNs and ads blocker to hide their data and privacy from online bots. But does it really work? Have you ever thought VPNs and Ads blockers are also collecting your data?

Nowadays, almost every software in the world uses AI in its backend to collect data smartly. Therefore nowadays, AI bots know more about us than we do. That is why sensitive information’s privacy and security concern is becoming a huge threat to users.

But every problem has its solution. What is the solution to this? Should we avoid using any system like our mobile device and computer systems? It is not that possible because we are surrounded by AI bots.

All you can do is not use any system to its extreme level. Don’t share your micro information with any system.

Impact on Mental Health

Majority of us overseen this AI has a negative impact on our mental health. But how? Do you know that all the social media platforms are using AI algorithms to suggest to us the content that we are most likely to consume?

These AI algorithms build the patterns based on our activities and then make us the content suggestion. In this way we spend most of our time on social media and we have very less time to do meditation and other physical activities.

Modified text: The best examples of these algorithms are TikTok and Instagram Reels; they are most likely to get you into their trap by showing you the clips that can boost your dopamine and you will more likely to stay on their platform for a longer duration. This incessant exposure to curated content tailored to your preferences not only affects your mental health adversely but also creates a dependency, akin to the allure of seeking validation through increasing TikTok followers.

Economic Inequality

It is one of the worst negative impacts of artificial intelligence on society. As we already know that 99% of world wealth is with just 3% of the population in the world. And after the evolution in AI this gap is increasing at a rapid pace.

Likewise you know that most of the people make their living with jobs and physical works as well as technical works. But AI has already replaced many jobs. That is why it is becoming hard for them to make their living and they are getting into poverty.

Most of the people oversaw this impact but by 2025 90% of jobs would be replaced by AI. On the other hand people with more wealth and power are using AI for their business and making more money. 

Cybersecurity Threats

We are not safe anymore. As we are already dealing with the scammers over the internet. But do you know that the scammers are now taking the help of AI to create cyberthreats.

Yes, you heard it right, now the scammers are using high-end more sophisticated AI tools to get into the systems and try to do scams. It is becoming challenging to the cybersecurity experts to cope up with these threats because AI is quite faster than human beings.

They continuously try to hack the websites, especially the reputed blogs, YouTube channels. And social media accounts. But keep in mind that it can also be done at a geo political scale. 

Social Isolation and Virtual Reality

Most of us oversee the metaverse. Lots of people are commenting that metaverse is just a flop by Meta or any other platforms. On the other hand virtual reality also co-exists with the metaverse.

But in reality we know that when virtual reality come into existence then most of the users avoid it because of its low level of experience. But with the time it has improved its interface and user functionality that is why users are spending more time on virtual reality.

Keep in mind that virtual reality is not just about virtual headset, it is also about social media and other platforms. Nowadays companies are heavily investing on AI based virtual headsets to make people interact virtually over real life connections. And this leads to increased social isolations. 

Autonomous Weapons and Warfare

AI is a weapon itself if it is not used under control. That is why most of the countries are establishing the norms for the limited uses of AI. It means that AI should not be used at a rapid scale that can be harmful for mankind.

But as we have seen the AI Humanoid Sophia which is already an advanced AI humanoid that is dominating humankind in most of the areas. If scientists keep developing them and allow them to learn from the environment then one day they can become a weapon against any country and can cause an uncontrollable warfare.

Healthcare Disparities

Healthcare is one of the things that should be equivalent to everyone. But you should know that there is a saying that whoever controls the AI can control the world. The same goes in healthcare.

Likewise there can be a high chance that the AI system would suggest different precautions and cure to different demographic groups based on their income, locations, tribe etc. 

Deep Fake

Deep Fake is one of the worst negative impacts of artificial intelligence on society. But as you can see it is associated with the term Fake. It means that it has the power to create a fake image to anyone that seems to be real.

Although it is not that advanced these days, most people are able to differentiate between Deep Fake generated content and original content. But with the advancement of technology it would become hard for us to differentiate and it can cause harmful effects such as depression, loss of respect in society and many more.

It can also lead to riots and protests without having any real cause behind it. 

Environmental Impact

As I mentioned earlier, there is a price for everything. Nothing is free in the world. For the flawless operations of AI we need to sacrifice the environment. But most of us are thinking that it is based on energy consumption because it demands more energy.

Yes, you are right in this case. The demand for energy has increased over time because of AI systems. Although we can use electricity from renewable sources, there is a catch.

AI systems are running on massive servers and these servers are getting warm with every single query we put on the AI system. Therefore they need a huge amount of water to cool down.

Although some companies try to put their servers in oceans to cool down, it causes them massive investment and maintenance. That is why nowadays AI companies are using massive buildings to locate their servers and using drinking table water to cool them down.

In this way the water level is decreasing at a rapid pace and we can’t neglect the carbon emissions. 

Bias in Hiring and Recruitment

Although these days hiring is also biased but not at an extreme level. But over time AI would replace the human recruiter and most of the companies will rely on ATS systems. 

And you know that most of the people know some tricks to make their resume ATS friendly and get a huge chance to make their resume selected by the AI systems.

In the interview phase they can also memorize the answer that can be asked by the AI systems. In this way it can be hard to test the skills of the candidates and leads to bias in hiring and recruitment. 

Autonomy and Accountability

AI is autonomous, it means that it makes its own decisions and works without human interactions right? Now the question arises that what if an AI system made a mistake?

Would the AI company accept its mistake and take accountability? In most of the cases they won’t and many excuses that machines can make mistakes. But what if it was a blunder? They will also make the same excuses. Therefore it is one of the worst negative impacts of artificial intelligence on society. 

AI is the future and can’t be overseen. We can’t also replace AI with humans these days because it is the need of the hour. So what would be the best solution to this?

As I have mentioned above some countries are trying to regulate the uses of AI and also addressing the potential challenges with AI. In this way they are ensuring to take the advantages of AI to its best and also minimize the harmful effects. 

Jobs Already Replaced by AI

AI has already replaced lots of jobs, especially the monotonous jobs. It has already transformed the way we work and deal with the challenges. Let’s have a quick look at the jobs already replaced with AI.

Blue Collar Jobs

Most of the blue collar jobs are replaced with AI based machines. The labor intensive tasks are replaced by AI with more perfection and less error-prone. They can work more hours with the same accuracy. 

Cashiers

AI has also replaced the need for cashiers in most of the areas such as banks, supermarkets, fuel stations and many more. Now AI based kiosks are more convenient and faster in order to pay the bills. 

Content Writer

Nowadays content writers are replacing AI chatbots. Most of the chatbots are writing quite well as compared with the content writer itself. Although content writers are not completely replaced because they can work as proofreaders. But once AI becomes more user friendly then this job would also be replaced. 

Customer Support

These days companies are replacing human customer support executives with AI chatbots. Because AI bots are more quick and provide relevant answers to their customers. Apart from that it also helps them to save their money and time in order to train the employee. 

Travel Agents

The days are gone where people get in touch with the travel agents to make their travel booking and hotel booking. Nowadays people are preferring AI-powered booking platforms to book their ticket, hotels and travel packages. It allows them to interact at any time and has hassle free experience. They can also clear their doubts anytime. 

Data Analysts

Data analysts are not completely replaced by AI. But in most of the companies AI systems are helping them to analyze the vast datasets and generate insights that can be useful to grow their business. I can also work as a business analyst. That is why most of the medium scale companies are using AI systems instead of hiring  a professional data analyst. 

Delivery Drivers

Delivery networks have a massive impact on AI. Nowadays drones are making the delivery of the products. There is no need to have a human being to deliver the packages to the location. It is easy and convenient as well as less error prone and the safety of packages is also at a high scale. 

Conclusion 

AI keeps replacing jobs. But if we update ourselves and always keep one step further than AI then it would also give us opportunities to uplift our career in the age of AI. It means that with the advancement of AI there are lots of jobs that can emerge in the field of AI.

All we need to learn new skills everyday and try to cope up with the changing environment. It is not wrong to use AI to make the work convenient but it is wrong to completely rely on AI.

Because if we overrun the negative impacts of artificial intelligence on society then we need to pay massively. You can’t imagine that AI can also destroy humankind if it is not used in a certain way. So keep hustling with the AI and use it as its best. 

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