software.

For example, the license must not insist that all other programs

7
distributed on the same medium must be open-source software.
10 License Must Be Technology-Neutral No provision of the license may be
predicated on any individual technology or style of interface.
Freeware
Freeware is software a user can download from the internet free of charge.
Once it has been downloaded, there are no fees associated with using the
software (examples include: Adobe Reader, Skype and some media players).

7.3
Unlike free software, freeware is subject to copyright laws and users are often
requested to tick a box to say they understand and agree to the terms and

Artificial intelligence (AI)

conditions governing the software. This means that a user is not allowed to
study or modify the source code in any way.

Shareware
Shareware allows users to try out some software free of charge for a trial period.
At the end of the trial period, the author of the software will request that
you pay a fee if you wish to continue using it. Once the fee is paid, a user is
registered with the originator of the software and free updates and help are then
provided. Often, the trial version of the software is missing some of the features
found in the full version, and these do not become available until the fee is paid.
This type of software is protected by copyright laws and users must not use the
source code in any of their own software without permission.

ACTIVITY 7B
1 a) What is meant by the term software piracy?
b) Describe three ways of protecting software against deliberate
attempts at making copies to sell or give away.
2 A software company offers a suite of shareware programs. It contains a
spreadsheet, word processor, database and drawing package.
What are the benefits to the following two stakeholders of offering
software packages as shareware?
n The company
n The customer

7.3 Artificial intelligence (AI)

Key term
Artificial intelligence (AI) – machine or application which carries out a task that
requires some degree of intelligence when carried out by a human counterpart.

7.3.1 What is AI?

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a machine or application which carries out a
task that requires some degree of intelligence when carried out by a human
being. These tasks could include
» the use of a language
» carrying out a mathematical calculation or function

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 7
7 Ethics and ownership

▲ Figure 7.2 Examples of how AI can be used in every-day life

» recognising a person’s face

» the ability to operate machinery, such as a car, an aeroplane or a train
» analysing data to predict the outcome of a future event, such as weather
forecasting.

AI duplicates human tasks requiring decision-making and problem-solving skills.

7.3.2 The impact of AI

People often associate AI with science fiction, fantasy and robots. Numerous
films and books fuel this association. The science fiction author, Isaac Asimov,
went so far as to produce his own three laws of robotics:
1 A robot may not injure a human through action or inaction.
2 A robot must obey orders given by humans without question.
3 A robot must protect itself unless it conflicts with the two laws above.
However, AI goes way beyond robotics. It covers an ever-increasing number of
areas, such as
» autonomous (driverless) vehicles
» artificial limb technology
» drones, used to carry out dangerous or unpleasant tasks such as bomb
disposal, welding, or entering nuclear disaster areas
» climate change predictions
» medical procedures, such as eye operations where extreme precision is
required.

7.3.3 The impacts of AI on society, the economy and the

environment
As a result of increasing automation over the next few decades, the human race
will need to consider the impacts that AI will have on society, the economy
and the environment. So should we all be worried? In this section, we will
consider a number of existing AI technologies, plus some predictions for the
future, to help stimulate discussions. As mentioned in Section 7.3.2, AI is not
just about robots, but covers many areas (this is explored further in Chapter 18,
which explores specific AI technologies in more depth).
We will look at some of the areas mentioned in Section 7.3.2 in more depth and
consider the implications of using AI (the descriptions that follow will mix up
benefits and drawbacks – in Activity 7C you will need to consider the overall
impact).

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 New developments in AI are constantly being announced and you are advised

7
to keep up to date by checking out the many websites that keep an eye on
AI development.
Below are some of the developments and impacts that are currently expected to
be seen in the near future.
Research has predicted that, by 2030, some 600 million jobs will be lost
globally and as many as 400 million people will need to retrain or switch jobs –
all caused by the inevitable advances in AI. The most likely jobs to be lost
are those doing medium- and low-skilled work, but high-skilled jobs (such as

7.3
hospital technicians, architects, engineers) are also at risk. This could lead to

Artificial intelligence (AI)

civil unrest with large numbers of young people out of work, with few or no
employment prospects, unless they have a sought-after skill.
History has shown, however, that previous technological advances all ended up
creating a net increase in jobs. As automation takes over, jobs on the factory
floor are lost, but production becomes much faster and more efficient, thus
requiring an increase in the number people doing tasks that the automation
process cannot yet do, such as quality control, test driving new vehicles and
so on. Technology creates new jobs which are generally more interesting
to humans than the manual jobs which are lost. However, history does not
always repeat itself, so we need to prepare ourselves for a large reduction in
employment and think about how to redistribute wealth so that the overall
impact of AI will be positive.
It is predicted that, eventually, 99% of all jobs could be eliminated since the
increase in the use of AI is exponential – competition between countries
and companies to expand their economies will continue to fuel this growth.
One question that might be legitimately asked is, ‘if 99% of jobs disappear,
who will build the robots and maintain them?’ To answer that question,
let us consider a present-day solution to the question. 3D printers are
actually now being designed and made by other 3D printers with no human
interaction – the whole process is automatic with AI algorithms in control of
the building, design and maintenance of these printers. So, it seems logical
that other robots/machines will build and maintain future robots and other
AI systems.
An increase in AI will leave people with more time to pursue their hobbies
and have a better lifestyle. Previous industrial revolutions have led to steep
changes in the economies of countries that embrace the new technology.
Being left behind is not an economic option but is it a good environmental
option?
Improvements in AI technology can have a positive impact on the
environment. Scientists now have more information than ever about
what affects the environment. AI can help by finding patterns and
interconnections within the thousands of data sets. This helps scientists
make informed predictions about the environment and potential climate
change. Since this analysis is very complex, the use of AI systems can speed
up this process incredibly and allow the human race to take action much
faster than they could by present methods. Here are some potential ways in
which AI can help:
» AI can help us to conserve natural resources (for example, improve the
conservation of water supplies).

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 » Detection of pollution in the air and in the seas using AI is much more

7
accurate, allowing scientists to pinpoint the source(s) of pollution more
accurately and much faster.
» In the future it could be possible to combine weather forecasting and AI
to allow for better predictions about renewable energy resources needed
for the next few days. This would lead to a more precise automated
renewable energy forecast using solar, tide, thermal and wind energy
generation.
» AI would allow us to learn from nature’s ecosystems by monitoring and
7 Ethics and ownership

modelling, for example, a river’s ecosystem. This would enable us to gain a

better understanding of what can affect the delicate balance of life in the
river. Such real-time environmental monitoring would allow us to quickly
take remedial action before the affects became irreversible. AI would make
this possible due to the ability to analyse vast amounts of very complex
(inter-related) data.

We will now look at three particular areas where AI could have a large
impact.

Transport
Some taxi companies are already looking at the introduction of autonomous
(driverless) cars. A customer can call up the taxi using an app on their mobile
phone, which also automatically handles the payment. Information about the
taxi (such as its location and estimated arrival time) would be sent to the mobile
phone until the driverless taxi arrives at the exact pick-up point. There would not
be any people anywhere in the chain, with AI systems taking total control. Some
car manufacturers are on the brink of actually supplying autonomous vehicles
(cars, buses and trucks). This would be much more efficient but would put many
drivers out of a job.

Criminal justice system

Advances in facial recognition systems is making fingerprinting in forensic
science almost obsolete. AI is also being used to automate legal work and some
courts in the USA have trialled the use of AI to sentence criminals and even
decide if a prisoner is eligible for parole. Is this a bad thing? Here are some
questions to think about:
» Does government use of AI need a warrant to allow online data to be
searched for all potential criminal activity?
» Can AI be used to listen in to our mobile phone conversations and assess our
emails? Social media companies are already coming under pressure in this
area – would AI help this or could criminals make use of it to hide criminal
activity?
» What about legal malpractice – what would be the mechanism to challenge
an AI inspired legal decision?
» How do we ensure no bias creeps into AI decision making processes? The
software being trialled in the USA to determine a prisoner’s suitability for
parole is already showing bias against black African Americans. How do
we ensure such prejudices by governments and individuals when using AI
systems is not allowed to occur?

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 Advertising and use of data
You may remember the Cambridge Analytica scandal in 2018 which hinged
around potential misuse of data obtained from a social media company (nearly
90 million profiles had been used by the company leading some people to
7
believe it had influenced the 2016 USA presidential elections). AI could reduce
such occurrences by allowing much closer monitoring. It would need to be very
sophisticated and act quickly to have any real impact – human beings certainly
could not respond fast enough.
Algorithms can now tailor advertising aimed at specific people by using AI

7.3
machine learning – this is done by building personality profiles of every

Artificial intelligence (AI)

internet and mobile phone user. Data is picked up from search engines, social
media and visits to websites – all this data can be analysed by machine
learning algorithms (see Chapter 18 for more details).

ACTIVITY 7C
Look through this chapter on the impacts of AI and produce a short essay or
wall display highlighting the pros and cons. Draw a reasoned conclusion and
debate the overall impact of AI with your classmates.

ACTIVITY 7D
1 In 2017, Diane Bryant, the chief operating officer of Google Cloud, claimed
that AI can:
n help us manage the Earth’s very scarce resources
n improve cancer diagnosis using precision medicine leading to
customised treatments
n lead to improvements in human rights in many countries due to cloud
computing, better connectivity and reduced costs in developing faster
computers.
Describe, with examples, why Ms Bryant’s claims could help people in the
future.
2 Give three different examples of AI.
For each of your examples, give one benefit and one drawback to the
general public.

End of chapter 1 Nicolae has joined a software company as a new team manager. During his
questions induction he was given a presentation on the company’s code of conduct and the
company’s expected ethical behaviour.
He was given hand-outs after the presentation which included the code of
conduct and ethical behaviour.
a) Explain what is meant by the term ethics.[2]
b) Describe the differences between behaving in an unethical manner and in an
illegal manner. [3]
c) Nicolae joins a team writing new software in a programming language
unfamiliar to him. Part of his job will be to visit a client and oversee the team
writing the software to meet the client’s requirements.
➔

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