Doctor Bit
People don't just have philosophical or spiritual needs; we need to stay healthy, and we can relapse into an illness or undergo treatment. For this, we must consult a doctor: a pediatrician for a child, an otolaryngologist for hearing problems, a gastroenterologist for digestive issues, and so many other specialists who are trained by professionals who have studied for many years to receive us in their offices, diagnose, and propose treatment and medication.
Since each doctor has to attend to several people, we have to make an appointment and sometimes wait in long lines to be seen. In the age of Alexa and Siri, all of this has been solved because we have Bot-Doctors, who, by simply accessing a free or paid website, can answer your questions and even diagnose with a single click.https://es.familydoctor.org/sus-recursos-para-la-salud/herramientas-para-la-salud/comprobador-de-sintomas/We no longer have to travel to the other side of the city, or spend so much time; in a few seconds we have the problem clearly identified. Of course, there's a margin of error, but human error also exists, right?
Who developed these applications? What criteria are used to make decisions? Are commercial or moral considerations taken into account?
Virtual Psychology
In these times when nobody has time for anything, families are increasingly using psychologists. Mother, father, and children regularly visit their therapist, and a budget must be set aside for this modern necessity.
What if, for a few dollars, you could download an app to your phone that gives you 24-hour access to a psychologist who can solve all your Freudian or similar problems? Of course, you would have to pay a subscription, like so many there are today, just like your Spotify subscription. For just a few cents, you could listen to music for the soul with this professional of postmodern psychology.
Well, it's not a myth, nor a futuristic dream; nowadays AI allows us to have this ability (http://ipsicologo.com/2012/10/eliza-la-psicologa-virtual.html).
And what does the hand signify?
Today we turn to technologies that "make our lives easier", such as the Uber driver who blindly trusts the phone application, even traveling against traffic, because the application "says so".
Perhaps most people are unaware, but these applications don't work "by magic" or "divine inspiration"; they are developed by engineers who master the art of "algorithms," and are capable of building even "virtual worlds" provided only with a computer terminal or a cell phone.
All the applications on our mobile devices or computer terminals are developed by these engineers; all kinds of applications that certainly help us a lot in our work, but the responsibility is great for those who develop, for example, an application that a doctor will use or that requires high geographical precision, as is the case with autonomous vehicles.
Therefore, several organizations worldwide are concerned with providing an ethical framework for the development of Artificial Intelligence and the development of Autonomous Systems.
I invite you to join this initiative at: https://ethicsinaction.ieee.org/
You can also download the document “ETHICALLY
IEEE's ALIGNED DESIGN here
*Image taken from thenextweb.com (credits Nicole Gray)