AI as a factor of social progress

Abstract

4TH CONGRESS OF ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS OF CATALONIA: TOWARDS A MORE DIGITAL AND SUSTAINABLE ECONOMY (2024)

THEMATIC AXIS: 6. THE SCIENCE AND INNOVATION SYSTEM AND THE CHALLENGE OF DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION Artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies

TITLE OF THE COMMUNICATION: AI as a factor of social progress

AUTHORS: Javier M. Asenjo Fernández (UOC), Manuel Murillo Rosado (UB) (both founding partners of the Conscienzia.org Association)

JUSTIFICATION: AI is at the center of numerous debates due to its potential risks. However, it can also be a source of economic and social opportunities.

OBJECTIVES
- To reflect on the impact of AI on the economy, business and society.
- To address the requirements for AI to become a factor of social progress.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION
AI is a set of programs that simulate human intelligence using massive data analysis and statistical prediction among other techniques. Its origin dates back to the 1950s with the work of Alan Turing (and others), although the real explosion came when the Chat GPT tool developed by the American company Open AI was presented in the open. A world of new possibilities and potential risks opened up globally.

SOME KEY VARIABLES AFFECTED BY THE IRRUPTION OF THE IA
- PRODUCTIVITY: there is talk of an increase of 15% per year on a sustainable basis. Many tasks can be done in half the time.
- EMPLOYMENT: companies could consider doing without part of their workforce. Some jobs could disappear and new ones could emerge.
- TIME: a surplus of time can be generated that can be devoted to other things, giving rise to new opportunities in emerging sectors.
- EQUALITY: it can increase the GDP of the most developed countries (Macro) and of the most qualified companies and people (Micro).

AI AS A FACTOR OF SOCIAL PROGRESS
For this to happen, great progress would have to be made in order to meet a series of preconditions:
- Governments and companies would prioritize ethical values when configuring algorithms, and people would be given primacy over machines.
- Society would enhance the opportunities and minimize the risks of its use in strategic sectors: health, education, business, employment, ...
- All social levels would be involved: political, business, trade union, ... in the search for a sustainable balance between jobs destroyed and those generated.
- Critical thinking, verification of sources and reflection on the proper use of the application of AI would be promoted in education and citizenship.
- Machines would pay taxes and social security contributions to compensate for the undesirable effects of their scalability.

AI can make a difference as a factor of social progress in areas such as:
- By sustainably increasing productivity, GDP can be improved and that differential could be devoted to improving services to the public
- Improving individualized attention: to patients (health), to the customer (companies), to students (education), ...
- With more quality time available (Kairos in Greek), people could devote it to areas they cannot now: taking care of people, enjoying the environment, art, leisure, learning, having a healthier life, creating, ...