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AI is becoming much more prevalent within many industries, with almost $100 billion in revenue expected to come from AI software by 2025. However, many are wondering about the ethical concerns that businesses need to keep in mind when it comes to AI.

Although there are many issues and concerns raised by the use of AI, Mikhail Solodovnikov says that some of the key areas to be mindful of are privacy, how data is used, the development of bias in AI, how employment is affected, and the autonomy of these programs, especially when they are used to operate larger constructs like self-driving vehicles.

Learn more about AI and these ethical issues below, as well as how companies can begin to balance between progress and responsibility when leveraging AI in the workplace.

What is Considered AI

AI (artificial intelligence) refers to any machine or program that is able to mimic and simulate some extent of human intelligence. AI is any machine that essentially thinks like a human or has functions closely associated with human behavior, such as learning and problem-solving.

Where is AI Use the Most Prevalent

One of the most common functions of AI is machine learning. This is where a machine will learn and develop without human input, usually through the repetition of trial and error of a task, or through being fed a vast sum of information related to be used for its intended task.

Some of the most common places that people will experience AI are within their own homes or on their own devices. Those who use chatbots and virtual assistants such as Amazon’s Alexa or Apple’s Siri are frequent users of AI, and there is also the ever-growing platform of Chat GPT.

Industries also heavily rely upon AI, with the healthcare sector being the most prominent user of these technologies, where it helps with health record storage, robot-assisted surgeries, and virtual consultations. Other sectors using AI include marketing, logistics, education, and finance.

Current Ethical Issues Include

Privacy

One of the ways in which AI is able to work most effectively is by using data, but in some instances, it could gain access to personal data that was not given with full knowledge or consent.

Companies using this data and incorporating AI for analyzing it need to make sure that they are operating with a full level of consent from the consumer, as well as creating algorithms that protect privacy, such as by decoupling personal information or identifiers from the data being used to anonymize it.

Bias

AI can also be capable of bias, which can affect the results of AI-based learning and programs. This usually is not a problem with the program itself, but rather the result of the dataset given to the AI to process and learn from.

Stereotypes can end up being reinforced within the AI’s programming as it makes assumptions using such data. For example, if the information given already contains a bias, AI will continue and perhaps even reinforce these influences.
Businesses using AI need to be sure that they are removing any bias from the material given to AI programs, as well as monitoring the datasets that the system automatically pulls information from.

Employment

While it is clear that AI has been of benefit to productivity and therefore the economic growth of companies and industries that leverage it, there are still concerns regarding how advancements and wider use of AI may affect the human workforce.

While AI cannot substitute for all jobs, it does have a much wider impact on jobs that sit between manual or unqualified work, and jobs requiring a high level of skill or qualifications. This means that office workers, retail staff, or factory employees are the most likely to be at risk, should automation and AI continue to advance as it has been.

Autonomy

As AI becomes more advanced, including the advent of more autonomous vehicles and even weaponry, it starts to raise the question of accountability.

For example, should an autonomously driven vehicle get into an accident, who will be at fault? Would it be the person who programmed the AI, or is it the AI system itself that is in the wrong because of its learned decision-making?

Companies using AI, especially those utilizing highly autonomous systems, need to be continually aware of their AI programs. Even more so than a human employee, their impact and progress should be monitored to make sure that they are performing as required and expected, both for general productivity and safety.

The stock market is a dynamic, multifaceted system that sometimes makes us wonder why seemingly sound companies end up tanking while non-revenue-generating startups somehow soar. For those looking to begin trading stocks, bonds, and other equities, understanding the current volatility of the market is a fundamental skill to have. Market unpredictability can be caused by a variety of factors, including changes in economic conditions and geopolitical events. Below, Mikhail Solodovnikov has outlined some of the most important aspects of the present market conditions to help investors navigate the wild ride.

Current Trends

The current stock market trends seem to be all over the place. Indeed, things appear too unstable and uncertain at present, and this has accordingly influenced many investors’ interpretations.

An unstable stock market typically occurs when prices and interest rates start to fluctuate significantly. This often means a substantial number of investors face uncertainty and worry regarding their own assets.

Investing in stocks under these conditions can be quite a dangerous game. Still, during a turbulent market such as our current one, suitable opportunities do exist, though identifying where they are is the real challenge.

A Fluctuating Market

Fluctuating markets refers to a period of sustained price oscillations. Typically, this will see massive price changes, whether up or down. Usually, one will find that many peaks will be either preceded or followed by a sharp value drop.
One of the most obvious features of the stock market is its unpredictability. Nonetheless, whenever these conditions suddenly end up appearing, investors tend to get caught up in fear-based trading.

Naturally, during a sharp price slump, investors can stand to make a very tidy profit through purchasing stocks in a down market. However, the unpredictable nature of stocks means that they will often be much less predictable – making financial losses still quite possible. As such, even a seemingly low price has the potential to plummet far more.

Volatility is incredibly high during economic uncertainty. Of course, this can also present a profitable opportunity. Unfortunately, it’s much more common for investors to face significant risk in this process.

Dangerous Investing

Some of the most highly variable markets at present are those in China, where the market has grown by nearly a third in less than two months. Even so, these scenarios are presenting a problem, as they complicate the cause of the instability.

With Chinese markets growing significantly (and quickly), many Western exchanges have responded in kind. With that being said, a significant missed part of this change was that the People’s Bank of China had recently cut interest rates. This may account for the sudden spike we’ve seen as of late.

Nonetheless, there’s no single factor influencing the stock market. Therefore, unless one is willing to take a high risk, investing during this sort of market could be dangerous. And until the experts are able to pinpoint specific triggers more closely, it may remain critically difficult to predict.

Final Thoughts

The stock markets are never an easy thing to predict, which is why so many investors are at risk of losing money with expensive investments. That’s not a position anyone wants their bonds and shares to put them in.

However, like it or not, stock markets are highly variable both ways. Thus, there is no simple way to predict how they will change, whether it is positive or negative. In the end, this often comes down to external factors outside of the investor’s control – and so the importance of carefully managing investments cannot be stressed highly enough.