AI has always frightened us. Although it amazes us, we often feel uncomfortable seeing something that is smarter than us. Taking a self-driving taxi ride, scanning one's face to pay for a meal or even having one's life depend on wearable medical devices: these experiences, which may seem like miracles that for decades could only happen in science fiction films, have already become essential and common in our daily lives.

Some think perils are all around us since people are already enmeshed in a technological revolution yet technology may backfire and lead to irreversible social problems. Others are positive that technology is designed to promise humans a better life. 

In this episode of "The Chat Room," we invited guests from China, the United States and Russia to discuss whether A.I. will make our lives better or more distressing.

Controlling or being controlled?

Wang Yunlin, an undergraduate student at Peking University, represented the affirmative side, insisting that AI has already become an inalienable part of our life, and people cannot and also have no need to turn back time and return to their outdated lifestyles. Living with AI is an inevitable result of human civilization and she recommended that people work with AI to increase the efficiency and accuracy of existing working process.

However, Nicholas C. Bonvini, a small business consultant, disagreed, arguing that AI has brought society problems such as job losses and the invasion of privacy. He added that AI will show people what they want to see, which will lead them to only see the point of view they agree with and will weaken people's ability to deal with diversity. This may even result in AI controlling what we see and think as well.

Replacing or being replaced?

Wang noted that robots can do a lot of things that we are not willing to do, and that does not affect our creativity. Procedural or boring routine work can be done by machines so humans can use their limited time or energy to deal with more sophisticated or meaningful work.

"AI knows more about us than ourselves sometimes," Bonvini countered, adding he had concerns that machines or technology designed to replace certain jobs in different industries were now becoming more and more intelligent and may already replace positions that used to be considered creative and meaningful.

"What the purpose of your life?" Ekaterina Kologrivaya, a Russian graduate student, asked as she argued that people shouldn't let AI replace small and simple work. Injecting meaning into routine or simple tasks is an essential part of life and this can't be replaced by any technology or machine, she said. The process sometimes is much more meaningful than the result, Kologrivaya added.

Terminator? Or just the next iteration?

"Every time when a new technology emerges in society, people are afraid," Jim Fields, a filmmaker from the U.S., said. But people can work with AI to achieve a better life just as it was designed to do. AI can give people more freedom, more space for creativity and so on, just like other previous technological inventions, he said. 

People feel insecure when new technology enters their life, which is normal and we have seen these sorts of discussions thousands of times before. But each of these uproarious debates represented a step in society's progress. The self-evident truth is that AI is helping billions of people around the world enter a new era of technology and it is magical to witness this moment where technology is contributing to a recalcitrant world and will shape every step of social development in the future.