AI And Its Impact on Your Daily Life

 
As early as five years ago, artificial intelligence (AI) was discussed only in conversations between tech enthusiasts and professionals or within the context of futuristic sci-fi stories.

However, within a very short timeframe, it stopped being a niche topic or a distant possibility. It became a reality we may struggle to understand or adapt to, yet it seems wholly inescapable. It’s part of daily life, even if it’s not entirely noticeable initially.

Currently and for the foreseeable future, AI is not something only programmers encounter. You see it daily, and its impact goes beyond what you can imagine.

 
First Things First—What is Artificial Intelligence?

In its most literal definition, AI refers to the intelligence demonstrated and performed by artificial beings like machines rather than biological creatures like humans. However, that is not precisely accurate.

In reality, AI technology allows machines to mimic human intelligence by recognising patterns and classifying data. Through processes such as deep learning and machine learning, these technologies gather human-made information and transform it into something entirely new.

In short, AI is technology trained with human knowledge to perform similarly within a fraction of a second based on the information gathered.

 

Where Can You Find Artificial Intelligence in Your Daily Life?

While everyone raves about ChatGPT or Midjourney, the truth is that there are much easier cases of AI in your daily life.

For example, beauty filters. You may not realise it, but these filters allow people to change their features with precision thanks to AI, which is trained to recognise facial features from many data sets. This same technology allows for FaceID on your phone and other automatic recognition tools.

Another clear case of AI affecting your daily life comes from social media. Everything you see on your feeds is customised to suit your tastes, preferences, and interests—all of which have been determined by AI.

Google search, grammar and spelling tools, digital assistants, smart home devices, travel apps, and many other daily-use tools use AI to make your life easier, even without you realising it.

 
The Many Benefits of Artificial Intelligence

Most of the countless ways AI affects daily life have something in common: they make your life easier.

When reaching the final consumer, AI becomes a convenience tool that lightens the human workload by taking over semi-automatic tasks that would otherwise take time and effort to complete.

For example, some healthcare AI systems can study a patient’s medical history and detect specific patterns or factors. These systems can predict potential afflictions and help doctors propose more efficient preventative care.

Regular office workers can also enjoy the benefits of task automation through AI, which means they can spend less time on mundane and repetitive tasks and focus on the crucial aspects of their jobs.

Overall, AI can take over specific tasks and become an efficient tool. But of course, this convenience also has unfortunate risks worth considering.

 

Can Artificial Intelligence Negatively Impact Your Life?

Every coin has a flipside, and the convenience of AI comes at a cost.

Perhaps the most well-known risk of AI is privacy and safety concerns. To function, AI gathers data created by humans, analyses it, and “learns” from it, which means that massive amounts of your information can be stored away without your knowledge for purposes not yet regulated by law.

Likewise, unscrupulous individuals can use generative AI to create false data, images, and content. Near-perfect imitations of someone’s voice or appearance—called deepfakes—can be used to make false or illegal content, spreading malicious misinformation.

Luckily, the law is moving fast to regulate the budding AI industry, with the European Parliament approving the AI Act, a comprehensive normative system aiming to regulate AI and reign in its worst aspects.

 

AI is Here to Stay

A powerful system that can solve complex problems with a click is both a blessing and a curse: while AI can make your everyday life and tasks a bit easier, it can do the same for criminals and wrongdoers.

But AI is not going anywhere. For better or worse, it is a permanent change in our everyday lives, and we must adapt to it like we did with many other technological developments. The key to navigating it? Understanding it for what it is: a tool that needs to be used wisely to get the best results.