There has been much discussion recently of the possible impacts of Artificial Intelligence ( AI) on society.

There will certainly be huge change, as a result of this latest move to further automation. It seems likely to result in many job losses, though could also mean different types of jobs.

It could also improve life, bringing more free time for people and enable earlier retirement.

The problem has always been that when technical change comes along, there are promises of improved life conditions but these rarely materialise.

Back, in the 1930s, economist John Maynard Keynes said that prosperity would be such in the next century that people would only need to work 15-hour weeks.

In the 70s, it was predicted that automation would see far more leisure time for people and earlier retirement ages. What actually resulted was longer hours for less pay and a constant extension of the retirement age

So how about this time?

The new chat bot ChatGPT certainly is a powerful thing.

It has massive capacity. For example, given a minimum of information, it can write the first chapter of a book in the style of Charles Dickens or Raymond Chandler.

Ask a question and very comprehensive answers come forward.

There are already concerns regarding students sitting exams. Also, newspapers are asking whether past articles have been written using AI.

The concern who is in control and how far it could go.

These are early days in the AI revolution. But things need to be got right in terms of regulation and control. None other than Twitter owner Elon Musk is among those calling for a suspension of at least six month in training of AI systems - a time to take stock of the situation.

AI can bring great benefits but they must be for the common good of all, not just a few tech companies that manage to corner the market in this ground breaking technology.

  • Paul Donovan is a Redbridge Labour councillor for Wanstead village and blogger. See paulfdonovan.blogspot.com