ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF THE IMPACT

OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Timothy Lynch
OGL 340: Artificial Intelligence: The Human Side
Bill Erwin
02/08/23

Total Word Count: 1580 words

 PAPER 1
“ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF THE IMPACT
OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE”

What Level of Awareness Exists?

The impact of artificial intelligence on modern day society suggests that there is a high

level of awareness that exists among members of society that artificial intelligence exists. Most

people that reside within technologically advanced nations experience artificial intelligence in

their daily lives. The awareness of artificial intelligence is growing exponentially as we become

more and more dependent on society to accomplish both personal, business, and organizational

goals. My own level of awareness of artificial intelligence has grown since taking this course,

but beforehand, I was aware of artificial intelligence and even experienced it on a regular basis

within my own life. Through observations and discussions with my peers and classmates, I have

learned more about how artificial intelligence impacts society on an economic, sociological, and

political level as well. For instance, I learned about how some educational institutions in

Australia, are now allowing students to utilize artificial intelligence in order to assist them with

completing course work (Shepherd, 2023).

I believe that our society’s level of awareness for artificial intelligence needs to be

improved in order for use to address the changes that are coming. The improvement needed is

artificial intelligence to be the main topic of conversation when it comes to generating legislation

that addresses artificial intelligence. Because we have so many other issues that take center stage

of many political discussions within the United States, I believe that our society is not prepared

to address the changes that are derived from the implementation of artificial intelligence. Topics

such as gun reform, inflation, and taxes are only a few of the obstacles that are impeding the

improvement of our society’s awareness of artificial intelligence. Jeff Berkowitz, the author of
the article, The Evolving Role of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in US Politics

states, “We must continue to have dialogue about protecting data privacy, encourage the creation

of standard regulations and ethical codes on AI and ML, develop a legislative awareness of the

aforementioned risks, and hold each other civically accountable as conscientious consumers of

political information.” It is important that we continue to have discussions and attention to things

such as artificial intelligence and machine learning. Doing so will allow us to increase our

awareness so that we can tackle the economic/political, sociological, and psychological impacts

of artificial intelligence.

The Economic/Political Impact of AI

There are numerous ways that artificial intelligence has impacted our society’s economy

and politics. The three main issues that have derived from the impact of artificial intelligence that

pertain to economics and politics and need to be addressed are 1. The competition between the

United States and China, 2. The concern for human safety based on artificial intelligence

becoming too powerful, and 3. The great displacement after artificial intelligence continues to

take over and eliminate the need for things such as jobs. These are the main economic and

political impacts that are the result of implementing artificial intelligence. Many industry leaders

and pollical figures, such as Elon Musk and Andrew Yang believe that human’s will be dealing

with the impact of artificial intelligence for a long time (Yang, 2018).

The competition between the United States and China will be mainly based on how the

American people determine how artificial intelligence should be implemented or regulated.

China currently leads the world in the use and implementation of artificial intelligence and

machine learning technologies (Lee, 2018). The nation supports the use of artificial intelligence
and believes that investing artificial intelligence will result in greater economic strength. A large

part in what is preventing the United States from surpassing China is its reluctance in

government involvement of investing in artificial intelligence. The concern for human society

based on artificial intelligence becoming too powerful is one that many Americans especially

those in the older generation believe in. Lastly, another concern for Americans is that as we

invest and make improvements in artificial intelligence, jobs will become less available to the

American people, and it will have a significant impact on our economy through the job market.

The Sociological Impact of AI

The sociological impact of artificial intelligence covers a vast range of sociological

aspects. It is important that we understand the sociological impacts so that we can have a better

understanding of how our society is benefitting or not benefitting from the implementation of

artificial intelligence in order to address them. There are many examples in which artificial

intelligence can be used in society. For instance, artificial intelligence has had a significant

impact on how our society communicates. The use of artificial intelligence can be seen in social

media platforms such as Facebook and twitter. Artificial intelligence use in social media

platforms includes data collection to generate algorithms for products and even the type of news

and information we are exposed to (DW Documentary, 2020). Artificial intelligence goes beyond

the digital space and impacts society even on a physical level. For example, researchers at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed artificially intelligent prosthetic limbs for

amputees allowing many amputees to participate in more physical and recreation activities (DW

Documentary, 2020).
 Additionally, business organizations are using artificial intelligence to create

manufacturing robots. By creating artificially intelligent manufacturing robots, artificial

intelligence is impacting society by changing our society’s behavior and actions in the workplace

(DW Documentary, 2020). The interaction between humans and artificially intelligent robots

will become more frequent as we continue to develop artificial intelligence. Perhaps the greatest

sociological impact of artificial intelligence, is the exposure of artificial intelligence to young

children. Children are becoming more and more exposed to artificial intelligence and therefore a

new generation of people will have a completely different experience and perception of artificial

intelligence (DW Documentary, 2020).

The Psychological Impact of AI

Overall, there is evidence of both a positive and negative psychological impact of

artificial intelligence. Artificial intelligence has slowly started to have more and more of an

impact on the psychological aspect of our society. The general population may believe that the

most significant impact of artificial intelligence on the psychological aspect of society may be

the psychological dependency on artificial intelligence in order to get through our normal day to

day lives. The dependence on artificial intelligence can be so great that it becomes an addiction

for many of the users. For example, in the article, Widespread Use of AI Could Spur Mental

Health Challenges, Kelsey Rolfe states, “Mental illnesses are partly based on genetic

predisposition and partly on the person’s experiences and the environment in which they live and

work, he added. “AI can enhance those environments if we will it to be the case, but if it

becomes like a hurricane coming through over time, then we are not going to be able to sustain

even the current levels of mental [illness]”. Rolfe then added, “However, he said, the growing
use of technology is one of a number of factors that are swirling together to produce “human

distress at the clinical level.” These factors include everyday uncertainty, apprehension about the

future and isolation.”.

On the other hand, artificial intelligence can also be used as a tool or means to fight

against addiction to more commonly abused substances such as drugs and alcohol. Currently,

behavioral health specialists and rehabilitation/treatment centers are implementing the use of

artificial intelligence to identify those that are at risk of relapsing. For example, in the article, AI

May Help Spot Alcoholism Relapse Risk by Robert Preidt, Preidt states, “In a new study, the

investigators used clinical data and a form of AI called machine learning to develop models to

predict relapses among patients in an outpatient treatment program.”. Overall, there is evidence

of both a positive and negative psychological impact of artificial intelligence.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the rise of artificial intelligence has had a ripple effect throughout our

society, nation, and the world. The impacts of artificial intelligence can be seen on an economic,

political, sociological, and political level. As time progresses, the world becomes increasingly

more aware of artificial intelligence and the different ways that it can be utilized. It is important

that we continue the conversation of artificial intelligence through means of analysis and

interpretation in order to identify artificial intelligence’s impacts and determine a means to

address them. The use of discussion and discourse of artificial intelligence will allow our

organization to determine the best method of how we choose to implement artificial intelligence

to improve the performance and working conditions for our organization.

References

Berkowitz, J. (2020, December 21). The Evolving Role of Artificial Intelligence and Machine
Learning in US Politics. CSIS.org. Retrieved February 6, 2023, from
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/jan/21/south-australian-universities-to-
allow-use-of-artificial-intelligence-in-assignments-if-disclosed

DW Documentary. (2020, April 18). How artificial intelligence is changing our society | DW
Documentary [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ePZ7OdY-
Dw&feature=emb_logo

Lee, K. F. (2018). AI Superpowers: China, Silicon Valley, and the New World Order (1st ed.).
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Preidt, R. (2022). AI May Help Spot Alcoholism Relapse Risk. WebMD.

https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/addiction/news/20220419/ai-may-help-spot-relapse-
risk-in-alcoholics

Rolfe, K. (2020, November 27). Widespread use of AI could spur mental-health challenges.
Benefits Canada. Retrieved February 6, 2023, from
https://www.benefitscanada.com/news/bencan/widespread-use-of-ai-could-spur-mental-
health-challenges/
Shepherd, T. (2023, January 21). South Australian universities to allow use of artificial
intelligence in assignments, if disclosed. The Guardian. Retrieved February 6, 2023, from
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/jan/21/south-australian-universities-to-
allow-use-of-artificial-intelligence-in-assignments-if-disclosed

Yang, A. (2018). The War on Normal People (1st ed.). Hachette Books.
PAPER 2: PLANNING TO ADDRESS THE IMPACT
OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Timothy Lynch
OGL 340: Artificial Intelligence: The Human Side
Bill Erwin
02/20/23

Total Word Count: 1543 words

 PAPER 2: PLANNING TO ADDRESS THE IMPACT OF AI

Addressing the Economic/Political AI Issues

My Organization Plan

The economic / political AI issues that my organization and I identified were 1. The

competition between the United States and China, 2. The concern for human safety based on

artificial intelligence becoming too powerful, and 3. The great displacement after artificial

intelligence continues to take over and eliminate the need for things such as jobs. My

organization identified these issues through many political figures who have brought awareness

to the issues such as Elon Musk and Andrew Yang who believe we will be dealing with the issue

of artificial intelligence for a long time (Yang, 2018). My organization plans to address the issue

of the competition between the United States and China by trying to incorporate global business

and cooperating with China to build our business and our organization. Programs that include

business cooperation will include partnerships that involve having some of our employees work

out of China and inviting business in China to work directly with our organization in the United

States. Hopefully, this will create an environment more conducive to teamwork and partnerships

that allow the two countries to work more together rather than to constantly compete against one

another.

My organization plans to address the issue of the concern for human safety based on

artificial intelligence becoming too powerful by creating safety nets and limitations to the

artificial intelligence that we utilize. We will create programs in which the artificial intelligence
will not be give complete autonomy and there will be a firm or department that will be

responsible for monitoring artificial intelligence and enforcing the safety policy and procedures

that were established. My organization plans to address the issue of the great displacement after

artificial intelligence continues to take over and eliminate the need for things such as job by

creating a 1 for 1 program. The 1 for 1 program is a program in which every time a job is lost

from the installment of artificial intelligence, another job will be created to progress another

aspect of the organization. This will ensure that our organization is not contributing to the great

displacement by creating jobs as new jobs are lost.

My Personal Plan

My personal plan for addressing these issues is to monitor how other countries, both

developing and developed nations, are coming up with solutions to address the economic and

political issues that have manifested from the implementation of artificial intelligence. I believe

that creating a government agency that has the mission of addressing political and economic

issues from artificial intelligence will allow us to do have more dedicated research on developing

solutions for the issues that come up from artificial intelligence. Additionally, if the organization

works with other nations that have dedicated agencies on artificial intelligence will only further

our progress in keeping artificial intelligence in check.

Addressing the Sociological AI Issues

My Organization Plan
 The sociological issues are derived from the implementation of artificial intelligence that

myself and my organization identified are the exposure to fake news and other information that

is generated from AI algorithms on social media platforms (DW Documentary, 2020). The other

sociological issue my organization identified was the growing exposure of artificial intelligence

on children and future generations. My organization’s plan to address the issue of AI algorithms

on social media platforms and the increasing amount of fake news is to inform the members of

my organization. It is unlikely that there will be any legislation that will go forward to prevent

this since it is a huge source of revenue for many business organizations to collect and use data

to create algorithms. However, the more informed members of my organization are about the

issue, the more likely they will be able to identify and spot things such as fake news. It is

important to provide this type of training to members of our organization.

My organization plans to address the issue of growing exposure to artificial intelligence

on children by creating programs in which children spend more time dedicated to things other

than artificial intelligence. Programs such as nature retreats, outdoor education, and summer

camps, will allow children to learn about other things in life outside of artificial intelligence.

These programs will be provided to the members of our organization and their families. This will

allow the members of our organization and their families to feel more connected and also

improve their family and work life balance.

My Personal Plan

My personal plan for addressing the issue of artificial intelligence influencing social

media and the information that we are exposed to is to limit the amount of time that I will be
utilizing social media platforms and enable all data privacy features on my social media and

news accounts. By limiting the amount of time that I spend on social media and other news

platforms, I will be limiting the amount of data that artificial intelligence can collect.

Additionally, I can limit the amount of exposure and data that artificial intelligence collects by

making sure that all of my data privacy settings are on. This means that I am not allowing the

platform I am utilizing to have artificial intelligence store and monitor what I am doing on their

platform. My personal plan for addressing the growing exposure of artificial intelligence on

children is to sign up my children for things such as sports and other outdoor activities. This will

give my children and others who follow suit to experience and learn things that artificial

intelligence cannot provide.

Addressing the Psychological AI Issues

My Organization Plan

The psychological issue that my organization have identified as being a result of the use

of artificial intelligence is the growing dependence on artificial intelligence in society that it has

become an addiction for many people (Rolfe, 2020). The addiction to artificial intelligence has

created secondary psychological issues such as an increase in anxiety, apprehension, and other

mental illnesses. My organization’s plan to address these issues is to provide an outlet for people

to address these issues. Having an organizational therapist or behavioral health department

within my organization will allow my organization to provide mental health support to the

members of my organization. This will be extremely important because it will help to minimize

the psychological impact of artificial intelligence on our organization’s members.

My Personal Plan

My plan to address artificial intelligence’s psychological impact on society is to limit the

amount of usage I have on artificial intelligence. By limiting the amount of artificial intelligence

usage, I will not create a dependency and addiction to artificial intelligence. I will utilize

organizational resources such as therapists and behavioral health specialists to ensure that I am

maintaining and strengthening my mental health. Not only will I be able to address mental health

issues concerning artificial intelligence, I will also be able to address other mental health issues

that come up from things that I experience throughout life.

Conclusion

In conclusion, my organization plans address economic / political issues through more

cooperation with business partners in China, establishing a firm or agency that addresses the

economic/political issues that are derived from artificial intelligence, and to implement a 1-for-1

program to address employment issues from utilizing artificial intelligence. My personal plan

would be to have the government create an agency that works with other nations to address

economic / political issues from artificial intelligence. In order to address the sociological

impacts of artificial intelligence, my organization would create and provide outdoor recreation

retreats for members of the organization as well as training to the employees to inform them

about data collection and algorithms used on social media platforms that exposes people to fake

news. My personal plan will be to utilize data privacy settings. Lastly, my organization plans to

address the psychological impacts of artificial intelligence by providing behavior health

specialists and therapists to the members of the organization so that they can address any mental
health concerns that may have been enhanced or a result of an addiction to artificial intelligence.

Finally, my plan to address the psychological impact of artificial intelligence is to limit my use

of artificial intelligence to prevent a dependency or addiction and to utilize organization provided

mental health therapists and behavioral health specialists.

References

Berkowitz, J. (2020, December 21). The Evolving Role of Artificial Intelligence and Machine
Learning in US Politics. CSIS.org. Retrieved February 6, 2023, from
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/jan/21/south-australian-universities-to-
allow-use-of-artificial-intelligence-in-assignments-if-disclosed

DW Documentary. (2020, April 18). How artificial intelligence is changing our society | DW
Documentary [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ePZ7OdY-
Dw&feature=emb_logo

Lee, K. F. (2018). AI Superpowers: China, Silicon Valley, and the New World Order (1st ed.).
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Preidt, R. (2022). AI May Help Spot Alcoholism Relapse Risk. WebMD.

https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/addiction/news/20220419/ai-may-help-spot-relapse-
risk-in-alcoholics

Rolfe, K. (2020, November 27). Widespread use of AI could spur mental-health challenges.
Benefits Canada. Retrieved February 6, 2023, from
https://www.benefitscanada.com/news/bencan/widespread-use-of-ai-could-spur-mental-
health-challenges/

Shepherd, T. (2023, January 21). South Australian universities to allow use of artificial
intelligence in assignments, if disclosed. The Guardian. Retrieved February 6, 2023, from
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/jan/21/south-australian-universities-to-
allow-use-of-artificial-intelligence-in-assignments-if-disclosed

Yang, A. (2018). The War on Normal People (1st ed.). Hachette Books.