Born in Vienna, Mario Herger has been living in Silicon Yalley as a technology researcher for eleven years. He advises companies in this field and travels around the world as a speaker. The fact that there is great interest in Artificial Intelligence was demonstrated by more than 80 participants in the Club of Rome lecture at the “Dorfgasthaus am Spitz” in Hoflin.
The speaker explained with many examples that everyone will eventually be affected by the effects of this new technology. Artificial intelligence works in private life and in society, and is a reality in all areas of life. Like every technical achievement, this one has two sides. In the case of artificial intelligence, the effects can be described as enormous, both positive and negative. Big changes are coming, especially for the professional world. The upside is that a lot of routine work is replaced by technology. Not only the so-called assembly line work, but also some precision work in the field of medicine/surgery can be carried out by a fixed “technical hand” in the future.
Mario Herger gave listeners a look at the future world of work with examples from individual industries. Self-driving cars, standardized leases, “Dr. “Google” as a diagnosis of complaints was one vision of the future, but documents, art and installations must also be created by computers in the future. Artificial intelligence will be everywhere, with a few exceptions limited exclusively to humans. For example, dance teachers cannot be replaced by artificial intelligence, Herger said. Sewing work must also be left largely to human hands. You can't really imagine the scenario even at the end of the lecture.
The effects of the less pleasant aspects cannot yet be estimated. Artificial intelligence is able to create things called “fake”. This ranges from fake news to fake videos to questionable posts on social media platforms without the account holder knowing about it. “In a dimension that we cannot imagine today,” Herger explained.
For example, he transferred $23 million due to a board decision in a Chinese company. It turns out that the instructions were not issued by the board, but were generated in images and language by artificial intelligence. Why something like this is and will be possible: Because people are doing more and more virtual transactions. “Fakes are so real that even the best professionals are unable to recognize them,” the spokesperson admits. The only thing that helps in dealing with this is direct communication with others.
The lecture left the audience with mixed feelings and provided many ideas for thought. The conclusion of the evening was, fortunately, that the success and benefits of artificial intelligence, despite everything, are in the hands of humans.
