There is no denial how many of us have looked up to a world of gizmos and automation. Functional architectural systems that automatically scan your ID cards for access. Robot-driven grocery carts that get your grocery bag all done in half an hour. Artificial Intelligence (AI)- maneuvered plane vehicles that quickly drive you to your school or office. These crazy yet possible ideas from our childhood are gradually now being realized with the constant development of technologies. Every day, no one is stopping software engineers, AI engineers, deep learning engineers and other specialists from piling breakthroughs on top of the fast-paced AI development.

All these for sure will excite you! The world which we have long-dreamed of is finally being morphed. But hold your horses! These wild ideologies, are all, but part of a new era we humans have to walk into — which, most of the times, can affect the previous culture we are all used at.

Well, culture, being a dynamic aspect of human civilization is actually prone to change. If change is really something we have to embrace, why not get along it? Well, AI, in the first place, unlike the natural psychological disposition of culture, is man-made.

Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (AFF) is among the many sectors that greatly benefit from AI. It is useful in just all many ways. The unprecedented complexities of nature — climate change and the seemingly infinite waste from modernization — have contributed to changes. Examples are the unforeseen typhoons, calamities and atmospheric deviations. These all led up to poor harvest and yield.

These, however, have all been mitigated, if not completely addressed, by implementing AI. But with it are several consequences that may come with it in the future.

 

Security Threat

In the AFF sector, there have been emerging AI-based technologies that are now used by other nations. A few of these are robot fish, which, provides you quick analysis of the water’s oxygen saturation in fish tanks, locates possible poison spillage and gives heavy metal test results by just being in the water. On top of that, all these data are updated daily so to alert the fish farm owners that there might be something off in the fish tanks. Another are the AI-based satellite and drone systems that help farmers project a satellite view of their crops. Meteorological changes captured from the satellite will be sent to the AI-run software and it will analyze all the factors for the farmers so he will just choose the correct interventions such as changing the planting time of the year, ensuring the crops will be equally irrigated and the likes to be done.

Albeit these are very promising solutions to that, these AI technologies, without proper regulations can be used as tools for security threat. This is especially true for robot fish as it has the capacity to navigate deep-level waters. With its accurate and precise functionalities, it can be used by other nations as a tool in invading the sea of neighboring countries. The AI-based satellite and drone systems can be used in the same way, but this time, to scout for the land area of neighboring countries.

 

Poisoning

Another AI technology that is now giving fish farmers a big help is the AI-based feeding assistant. It works by observing the fish’s eating patterns and cycle, and basing from that, the feeding assistant will automatically launch fish feeds into fish tanks, ensuring that all the fish will have equal share. This provides a precise growth of fish when it’s time for harvest. Also, these feeding assistant will be able to detect oxygen saturation and help farmers by automatically increasing the oxygen and regulating the heat.

However, the down side would be on people who will decide to sabotage a fish farm. Instead of fish feeds, pellets with poisons can be set there and perhaps, a poisonous gas can be put in the oxygen tank that will cause poison. The wifi accessibility of the technology makes the plot easier to be done since the poisoning can be done anywhere in the world as long as you have a stable internet connection.

 

Illegal Drugs

An AI-run software that can detect weeds and other plants, provide you the weed’s information and ways on how to kill the weed may be a promising app for farmers. This is a free application truly accessible for everyone. However, the down side for this is that weeds that might be detected may contain alkaloid-based constituent, a good chemical precursor for illegal drugs. Being free for download in the internet, we provide means for those people with evil intent to source out, cultivate and grow alkaloid-based plants, and manufacturer illegal drugs. On the other hand, alkaloid being a toxic constituent due to its high potency and low minimum effective concentration for a toxic action, it may be a perfect way for revenge, which, can harm someone.

 

Economy

Another AI technology to look out for is an environmental analytics computer systems that help farmers predict the best environmental conditions for a certain plant to grow by gathering important data that will make the suitable ecology for a plant or crop to grow. This computer systems were made to address food shortage so that the crops being planted will produce high yield. However, if, in the future, this system is studied by an evil person, this principle can be used to cultivate lands that would now cater the growth of endemic plants. That, in turn, will affect countries who primary income is the manufacture or distribution of such endemic plants.

 

We are just in the phase of AI where we are groping like a child. There are many things yet to know. These changes, in the long run will certainly affect us humans. And how we response to is yet uncertain. The new cyberspace which we have just easily embraced has been quite too overwhelming, more so, a new world where AI and humans will co-exist.

Also, besides the things mentioned, AI technologies will surely replace, in the future, those jobs that are repetitive. Meaning, although some workers may have a promotion, those people who were tasked to do the repetitive tasks will most likely get retrenched. Although we have to move forward and embrace change, looking at these negative externalities, we have to think twice of what we can do to mitigate the bad effects. In the past, Facebook, created in good faith, was never expected to be a platform of fake news, social media wars and hate speeches. Even Dr. Fleming, when he first discovered the wonders of antibiotics warned the world of the possible occurrence of antimicrobial resistance. New discoveries just have unwanted negative externalities. We should not be blinded by what’s only good.

We are just in the phase of AI where we are groping like a child. There are many things yet to know. These changes, in the long run will certainly affect us humans. And how we response to is yet uncertain. The new cyberspace which we have just easily embraced has been quite too overwhelming, more so, a new world where AI and humans will co-exist.

AI’s growth is exponential. There will come a time when it will be programmed as complete learning software, as the development of it is projected towards that. Having said that, we will never know how we, humans, can handle the exponential learning capacity of AI. We just never know. But in this world, there will always be one species that has to dominate.

It’s either we regulate them now. Or the species that will take over then on will be them.