Human-AI augmentation: Understanding the blurring boundaries between human and machine intelligence

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  Quantumrun Foresight
• August 9, 2022

Insight summary

Artificial intelligence (AI) is deeply entwining with human lives, enhancing daily tasks and even influencing behavior, as shown by interactions with AI assistants and experiment outcomes. Technological advancements in AI are leading to potential human augmentations, which might create societal divides and ethical challenges in various domains. These developments require careful consideration and regulation by governments and organizations to manage the emerging ethical dilemmas and societal impacts.

Human-AI augmentation context

AI has transformed the world by integrating automation and machine intelligence into ever more products, services, and processes, often for the benefit of humans. During the 2010s, AI gradually incorporated itself more intimately into our personal and daily lives, from smartphones, to smartwatches, to home voice assistants. As we go further into the 2020s, experts ask whether AI is having a deeper effect on human intelligence and behavior than what was previously assumed.  

Bots affect human behavior. An experiment conducted at Yale University saw an error-prone, humorously apologetic robot added to a group, while other groups had robots that made bland statements. The control group with the error-more prone robot led to improved communication and collaboration among the group, making them outperform their peers. Other experiments where robots displayed selfish behavior saw humans mirror this behavior. The confident voice tone of AI assistants such as Alexa and Siri and instances of malicious messages towards politicians being retweeted by bots (with the posts themselves created by bots) indicate how the boundaries between AI and human intelligence are blurring.
 
In the view of Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HCAI)—a design concept that supports human creativity, self-efficacy, and clarity—AI will take on supportive roles like telephone operative drones and self-driving cars. HCAI further gives support to community-based solutions such as letting algorithms match the interests and personalities of food delivery professionals to senior citizens and people with disabilities. Other examples include scheduling efficient routes for delivery drivers and creating smartphone applications that pair professional caregivers with efficient income-earning strategies. 

Meanwhile, scientists like Kevin Warwick predict that AI-enabled chips will be integrated to enhance the human body by enabling infallible memory, telepathic communication, seamless control of prosthetics, body extensions in objects located at large distances, and multidimensional thinking.

Disruptive impact 

As these advancements become more integrated with the human body, such as AI-powered, wifi-enabled brain implants, they may lead to a pronounced societal divide. Individuals with such technological augmentations could gain substantial advantages in various domains, including professional, educational, and social settings. This disparity might not only widen the existing socio-economic gaps but also introduce new forms of inequality based on access to and control of these technologies.

In economic competition and personal achievement, these technologies could be leveraged for financial gain or to circumvent systems designed to evaluate natural human abilities. For instance, in professional environments or academic settings, those equipped with cognitive enhancements may outperform their peers, leading to unfair advantages and ethical dilemmas. Governments and corporations may need to establish regulations to ensure fair competition and prevent misuse. Furthermore, this situation raises questions about the definition of merit and effort when human abilities are artificially augmented.

On a global scale, the utilization of augmented technologies could impact international relations, particularly in espionage and defense. Governments may use these technologies to gain strategic advantages, leading to a new kind of arms race focused on human enhancement. This trend could lead to heightened tensions and a redefinition of national security strategies. As these technologies become more sophisticated, they will require a reevaluation of international laws and ethical norms governing their use.

Implications of human-AI augmentation

Wider implications of increased human augmentation with AI-powered technologies may include: 

• The average person becoming healthier due to constant health tracking that can enable proactive health suggestions and interventions.
• The average person becoming more productive at home and at work with the constant support of virtual assistants who can manage itineraries, offer instructions, and navigate interactions with retail service providers, government services, and even work departments.
• The average person delegating ever more decision-making to AI assistants. Individuals who place a high degree of trust in their personal AI assistants and tools may depend on them for finance and dating recommendations, for example. 
• New social interaction norms evolving to include human interactions influenced by AI conversational suggestions.
• New standards of beauty and status evolving to include various forms of tech-based body augmentations. 
• Specific and comprehensive guidelines being enforced by policymakers on AI design teams, such as building reliable and transparent systems, ensuring safety through management strategies, and expecting independent oversight.
• A trend of increasing techno-optimism as humans experience, rather than predict, the growing interaction with machines.
• New technologies being developed that could aid people suffering from degenerative brain illnesses, such as Alzheimer’s.

Questions to consider

• Do you think machine intelligence will lead to humans becoming even more reliant upon AI systems?
• Is it possible to control how humanity will evolve as it increasingly uses AI systems?