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One of the world\u2019s top artificial intelligence researchers working in New Brunswick is optimistic about what the future could bring with advancements of the technology, but he does urge caution. <\/p>\n
Moulay Akhloufi, an AI researcher at the Universit\u00e9 de Moncton, was listed by Stanford University in the top two per cent of AI researchers worldwide. <\/p>\n
The list is compiled by looking at the number of research papers someone authors, or co-authors, and how often those papers are cited by other scientists.<\/p>\n
Akhloufi said the future of AI will be influenced by education about the technology and how it is used. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe have seen historically every technology we see the good uses and the bad uses,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Machine learning <\/p>\n
Akhloufi works primarily in the field of machine learning, a subset of AI where computers are trained to perform specific tasks. <\/p>\n
This would be distinct from more general AI like large language models, such as ChatGPT, and other forms of generative AI. <\/p>\n
Akhloufi works with machines and robots trained with machine learning which could be used by businesses. <\/p>\n
\u201cFor example, we have a client in Saint John where he wants to use this kind of robot to move, ,for example parcels for [elderly] people or to go pick up the garbage for example using these robots,\u201d said Akhloufi. <\/p>\n
LISTEN | Moulay Akhloufi on Information Morning Moncton:<\/p>\n
Information Morning – Moncton10:35U de M professor ranked among the world\u2019s top A.I. researchers<\/p>\n
Moulay Akhloufi is a professor in the department of computer science at l’Universit\u00e9 de Moncton.<\/p>\n
Akhloufi said this could be beneficial in countries where there is a labour shortage and businesses can\u2019t hire enough humans to do the work. <\/p>\n
But he acknowledged this could also lead to job losses and said the key will be offering training to people who find themselves replaced by an AI worker. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe will still need humans, but not the same jobs,\u201d said Akhloufi. <\/p>\n
But speed will be key to getting people trained for new jobs, and he doesn\u2019t believe government is working fast enough to address it. <\/p>\n
\u201cI think we’ll have to move faster in finding ways to train people to upscale people,\u201d said Akhloufi. <\/p>\n
\u201cOtherwise we will have as a society some problems at some time.\u201d <\/p>\n
Existential threat <\/p>\n
One area some AI researchers have been concerned about is the development of Artificial General Intelligence, also known as Super AI. <\/p>\n
Super AI is a theoretical step in AI when its intelligence exceeds human intelligence and, depending on who you ask, it\u2019s arrival may come sooner than later. <\/p>\n
And the risk it may pose to humanity is also something researchers are debating.<\/p>\n
In 2022, Oxford University and the Machine Intelligence Research Institute, a California-based think-tank examining existential threats posed by AI, surveyed 738 AI researchers. The survey showed 48 per cent of respondents pegged the odds that the \u201clong-run effect of advanced AI on humanity will be \u2018extremely bad (e.g., human extinction)\u2019\u201d at 10 per cent. <\/p>\n
Akhloufi didn\u2019t want to give a numerical value to the possible existential threat posed by Super AI, but he said there is a \u201creal concern.\u201d <\/p>\n
He said technology isn\u2019t at the level of Super AI yet, but it is important to think about that possibility, especially with some of the malicious uses that have come from existing AI, like deepfakes \u2014 images and videos that are doctored using AI. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf we don’t put some guardrails, we will have a big trouble and we will have probably big problems,\u201d said Akhloufi. <\/p>\n
\u201cI am sure that, for example, bad people will use these tools for bad things. So that’s where we will have to to be careful.\u201d <\/p>\n
But Akhloufi maintained a lot of good can come from AI, especially in the medical field where the technology could speed up detection of diseases and drug development. <\/p>\n
He said: \u201cI try to be optimistic because what we are doing is really positive and have impact on on our society.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 4 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":423566,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[62,276,277,49,48,61],"class_list":{"0":"post-423565","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-artificial-intelligence","8":"tag-ai","9":"tag-artificial-intelligence","10":"tag-artificialintelligence","11":"tag-ca","12":"tag-canada","13":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423565","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=423565"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423565\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/423566"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=423565"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=423565"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=423565"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}