With the introduction of ChapGPT and the impending introduction of other Artificial Intelligence programs, a narrative on how AI has and will affect professionals and various creative jobs has emerged. To get a fair assessment of the concerns we reached out to a few professionals;
Yasas Hewage,
Founder, Spinner Cycling / Snipexx Sales coaching,
(Entrepreneur)
“AI is here to stay, I believe it will make the human race more productive, more creative to solve real problems, just like after two decades of Smartphones , people are now looking to manage screen time with apps, the negatives will be dealt with, It’s scary that the disruption will be wide, but real stuff like baking a cake, riding bicycle can still be done, the good news is that it will kill the time wasted on traditional degree, MBAs and release the human potential for real life learning and actual skill mastery”
Chethana Ketagoda:
Lawyer, Hindi lecturer,
and digital content creator
“AI is perceived as something that is good for society. I would like to say that there are various disadvantages to it as it reduces human effort and human labour. It may be a good tool for technical work etc but we have to note that it will take a lot of employment opportunities away. While the advantage can be its own disadvantage sometimes, I am confused as to how I really feel about it. In fact the best and worst things about it are yet to be determined.
I am engaged in multiple professions. I am a lawyer, this requires quite a lot of human brain and knowledge, and I have seen many lawyers now, who draw up contracts with the use of AI. This can be good in a way as it lessens the burden, but there can be complications as it is not like you can trust it 100 percent when it is produced by technology, the human mind is required for some of these things.
And as a Hindi lecturer, I find it helpful to prepare lectures and whatnot, but I need to be thorough with my content as it is very important as a teacher. So it is 50/50. It can be both good and bad and I am interested to see how it goes.”
Jeremy Muller,
Director,
Marketing at Impressions Property Management and Reality and proprietor of
Jam Fruit Tree Publications,
“AI has the potential to bring about numerous positive changes in society, but do not forget that it is a tool, and nothing more. The rising controversy that focuses on AI tools like ChatGPT as well as tools for producing artwork and illustrations are well-founded.
“You see, there is no reversing AI in any of its iterations. It’s here to stay and we have to deal with it. The trick is to integrate these tools into our business, work, and pleasure, but not let it be used as a replacement tool. Now this can be a very difficult thing to do as AI also essentially learns and evolves, bringing it ever closer to human-like intelligence. This also makes it increasingly difficult to discern the real from the AI-generated.
“Overall, there are both pros and cons in using AI in art and writing. The pros can be increased creativity, innovation, and efficiency, leaving aside ethical concerns. The cons are, of course, losing the human touch and personal connection that is often present in traditional art and literature.
“In the end, it comes down to how much we, as humans, are willing to allow technology to take the place of creativity. This touches a nerve, as it is not a mere function, such as an automated factory, or using an algorithm to solve complex problems. “We are talking about art, in all its forms, which is strongly believed to be tied to the human mind - and dare I say, the human soul - the very essence of creativity and imagination. Why do we feel threatened? Because the one thing that makes us unique is now being overtaken by a line of code within a machine. This is a complex situation, and one can only hope that there is more good than bad, which is the overall result.”
Suja Ur Rahman,
Entrepreneur and Managing Director of
Social Media Marketing Company
“The AI boom has brought positive impacts like increased automation and efficiency, improved healthcare, enhanced productivity, and advancements in research. However, there are concerns about job displacement due to automation. Overall, it has both positive and negative effects.”
Vishan Rathnayake
Graphic designer
The positive aspect of AI would be that it would be a tool for a lot of professionals to make their jobs easier. The negative aspect would be that, at least in the short term- from the client side, it would raise expectations to some unrealistic levels where clients expect extraordinary outputs for the simplest things just because they don’t understand that AI is again at most a tool and not a magic wand that can manifest anything and everything they desire.
Harsha Abeygunasekara,
CEO of @MetanaHQ,
“I believe the impact of AI is pretty positive, humanity must consider it a tool and move forward. In a practical sense, some may lose their jobs, but history has shown that people will always find something new to do to not stay hungry. I myself have automated 2-3 employees’ work already, but I am hiring for more advanced roles that need an actual brain and human analytical thinking to get the work done.”
Dr. H. Murage
“AI systems have had a significant impact on professionals in many different industries. Sri Lanka has started to see these impacts now as well. I believe professionals can take advantage of AI-powered solutions that offer data-driven insights, predictive analytics, and individualized suggestions, enhancing their capacity for decision-making.
I can also make a great impact in the medical field. AI-powered algorithms can enhance precision and efficiency in medical imaging, improve patient risk assessment, and support clinical decision-making. However, there are worries about employment loss and various moral ramifications. I believe that while we have to embrace the fact that AI is here to stay, professionals must change by learning new skills, accepting AI system collaboration, and utilizing their special human traits like empathy, critical thinking, and creativity.”
Chathuran ga Dambagolla,
Undergraduate, Business Economics,
Tokyo International University,
“If you look at AI in its current state, there is no cause for concern as it is in its infancy, but that alone is not enough for us as a society to willfully ignore it. Talking about the positives AI has the potential of being instrumental in every possible industry.
For example; it could help cut down research time in the medical sector. Enabling faster making of medicines, and vaccines, potentially curing cancer, and finding more efficient and safer ways for treatment and surgery, etc. It could also help save our future by having AI come up with possible sustainable solutions that could help stop climate change, and create more sustainable ways of producing food, cities, and other infrastructure. The negatives are quite glaring as well.
If you use any kind of social media then you’re aware that AI has taken over faster than any other trend. From image-generating AI to deep fakes, much more AI in between is out there and free for anyone. This could put people’s privacy at risk and expose minors to things that they should not be exposed to.
“Popular AI such as ChatGPT and stable diffusion has been in the spotlight recently for creating fake imagery and fake articles with details that never happened and people prompting such things have taken advantage by sharing it on social media to get clicks. This puts our already fragile relationship with fake news and media at further risk. AI could potentially make creativity obsolete, and further evolving AI could risk people’s jobs. There is also a potential risk of AI being used in warfare.
“In the past couple of years, the evolution of AI has put professionals in the field in a precarious situation. This has led countries such as Italy to ban ChatGPT over ethical and other issues. AI is already reaching general intelligence, and when they do, they could potentially start creating their own AI, better and faster, achieving super intelligence.”