Artificial Intelligence (AI) or Intelligence Augmentation (IA): What Is the Future?

TLDR

Artificial intelligence is rapidly expanding across industries, promising efficiency gains, yet debates persist over whether it will replace human cognition or instead augment it. This study examines the competing perspectives on AI’s role, exploring their implications and risks in an era of heightened artificial awareness. The authors conclude that humanity’s ultimate aim is to achieve intelligence augmentation via AI and emphasize the urgent need for ethical frameworks guiding its use.

Abstract

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a rapidly growing technological phenomenon that all industries wish to exploit to benefit from efficiency gains and cost reductions. At the macrolevel, AI appears to be capable of replacing humans by undertaking intelligent tasks that were once limited to the human mind. However, another school of thought suggests that instead of being a replacement for the human mind, AI can be used for intelligence augmentation (IA). Accordingly, our research seeks to address these different views, their implications, and potential risks in an age of increased artificial awareness. We show that the ultimate goal of humankind is to achieve IA through the exploitation of AI. Moreover, we articulate the urgent need for ethical frameworks that define how AI should be used to trigger the next level of IA.