Artificial intelligence has already changed our society in many ways. With big time companies like “Alibaba” already using AI to recommend certain products to their customers, the sky is the limit. However, the question that must be asked is Where does one draw the line?.
With certain applications becoming so advanced, it is now possible for AI to analyze the data of thousands of companies and purchase stock depending on the data it collects. Since all of this technology is still fairly new there are no set specifications for what the AI will be tracking. Although I would guess it would try to track some the basics like analyzing competitors and calculating risk in order to make the best investment. One company which utilizes such AI is “Epoque”. Epoque is a company based in Switzerland which has three main functions for the AI they utilize. The first is to analyze trades being made so that a common pattern can be found, then the second function is to actually carry out the actions of acquiring stock, lastly their AI can also use certain features to improve itself, and make its information more accurate. Now even though some might argue that this AI system of Epoque has not benefited them in any major aspect, the fact is that their competitors are constantly trying to make an application better than there’s. Even if this application takes years to perfect, the scary fact is that trading could be changed forever. It would no longer rely on the intelligence of humans to make profit, but rather the perfection of an AI application.
Adding onto my last point of a new AI application that can read millions of stock patterns and buy you the best “bang for your buck”, everyone would get wealthy very fast. The major problem with this is that what we consider wealthy now, would not even be close to what we consider wealthy(if this theoretical application existed). Prices for everyday groceries would rise, minimum wage would rise and everything after that would rise ultimately causing major inflation.
Obviously the example I gave was very extreme and the chances of a situation truly occurring like this are slim. However I am just bringing attention to how much power AI has, and how it has the potential to cause some of the world’s biggest economies to crumble.
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