Renowned mathematician Andrei Okounkov, winner of the prestigious Fields Medal, has warned of the risks of human's over-reliance on artificial intelligence (AI) and other modern technologies.
In an exclusive interview with China Media Group, which aired on Friday, Okounkov said over-reliance on AI in decision-making processes could lead to weaker analytical abilities and reduce critical thinking.
"I would be lying if I say I don't worry. I do worry that it's very clear like in biology, it's extremely clear. Once you don't need something, then the evolution doesn't support that. Like for instance, our predecessors, they had the ability to produce, for instance vitamin C. But eventually the diet has changed and now we depend on outside things, because it used to be that people were, for instance, you can very easily test the ability of people yourself or other people to find to navigate some terrain without using cell phone maps. And you will discover that people have no idea where is north, where is south, the obvious things. So what our predecessors were extremely acute what is the time of the day based on where the sun is and what are the signs that the rain is coming and where is north, where is south," he said.
"But the serious thing about it is that in biology, it's always like this. Once there is no need for a certain function, that function is not supported evolutionarily. So that means we just lose the ability to do that. This can really happen to critical thinking," Okounkov added.
Fields medalist warns of human over-reliance on AI
