This season’s artificial intelligence (AI): is today’s AI really that different from the AI of the past? Some reflections and thoughts

Abstract

AI is a rapidly advancing technology with the potential to hugely enrich and dramatically transform many aspects of today’s society. As well as being the focus of much excitement, anticipation and hope, the fast development and wide-spread deployment of AI technologies also raises ethical concerns, fears, risk and potential danger. Indeed, the array of positive and negative emotions attached to current AI development, design and implementation has placed AI at the epicentre of important technological, societal and cultural discourse. This paper discusses the idea that we are currently living, perhaps unnecessarily, through a period of intense AI hype. Drawing on the first author’s own experiences of working with AI systems in the 1980s through to the present day, as well as engaging with relevant literature, the paper examines whether the current AI narrative is unique and worthy of mass interest, or whether it is simply part of the natural ebb and flow of progressive technological advancement. The authors conclude that the current hype around AI has many positive aspects as it is raising public consciousness of the potential implications, applications and ethical issues.