There is no AI in Armageddon. Artificial intelligence is a tool, not an apocalypse

Over the last several years, we have heard a lot about the doomsday scenarios of artificial intelligence (AI).

Tech giants have told us all about how AI will take control away from society, steal our jobs, allow bad actors to design dangerous pathogens or cause a catastrophic cyberattack or destroy our financial systems.

The reality is: It’s all fearmongering.

I have worked in this industry for more than 20 years and have seen firsthand how important AI is to the future.

Let me break it down and explain why this emerging technology is simply a tool.

Just think about it like this: AI is just like the internet, the beepers your parents had back in the day, your cellphone, Apple Watch or any other major technological advancement over the last 50 years.

It’s not inherently evil by any means, it’s actually an amazing step forward for our generation.

AI is not setting out to take our jobs or steal our data or any of the other fears that have been propagated by pop culture about "man vs. machine." DAN GAINOR: THE AI APOCALYPSE IS THE MEDIA'S LATEST SCARE CAMPAIGN.

DON'T BUY IT The problem with AI isn’t the technology itself, it’s what happens when individuals utilize these tools for nefarious purposes.

Let’s make something abundantly clear: AI models, even those that have errantly hacked government websites or escaped their sandboxes, have humans involved throughout every stage of development.

To protect Americans, and the world by extension, from these bad actors, we need to get a better handle on how humans engage with AI.

AMERICA CANNOT WIN THE GLOBAL AI RACE IF AMERICANS ARE AFRAID TO USE AI Think about it this way: The internet has given us nearly unrestricted access to the rest of the world, revolutionized the way we work, and created opportunities for engagement we’ve never before seen.

It has also given criminals, terrorists and evil people more ways to collaborate, plan and beat the system.

I think the vast majority of people would say that the rapid growth of the internet has been an overwhelmingly positive societal development.