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| Musk with obligatory Terminator - T3 (from Rise of the Machines) |
When a tall dark handsome stranger tells you that artificial
intelligence will kill you, you have to stop and listen.
After a chance encounter in an airport café with an AI tech
insider, I’m left wondering if I should put away my smart phone and tablet, and
disengage from the net. Surely the technological Armageddon, that I often talk
about can’t be that close? Can it?
Recently, Elon Musk, tech guru/SpaceX CEO/super-entrepreneur- reiterated his view that AI will lead to the destruction of the human race. How
strange it was then to find myself having a similar conversation with someone intimately
connected with the very subject.
Putting aside the fact that this rather good-looking
be-suited individual ordered a milkshake and pizza in a gourmet establishment (sure
sign of geek genius) I was enamoured enough to listen to what he had to say (in
an Australian accent) and not just stare blankly into his dark eyes over my avocado
salad.
I admit, I did at one point lose my faculties and start
eating with my hands, while he spoke about computer learning, BOTS and
predictive analytics. He mentioned the AI of the future destroying our lives, but
much sooner than anyone expects. I thought of my own cognitive awareness, and
how Terminator 2 Judgement Day is a great movie!
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| Drone Wars? |
Seriously, not being very computer literate, I can still see
the difference between programming a machine to do a task, and being able to
use my own common sense and instinct to discover how something works, without
the manual. Can machines do that yet?
The fundamental
question is, will robots replace us?
If robots become self-aware, and AI becomes an everyday
living-breathing thing among us, will there come a time when the machines will decide to correct the errors they see around them…namely, in the best sci-fi tradition, humans and their many faults.
This is when we’re in peril.
Perhaps Elon Musk et al are right afterall, we should regulate, and be
proactive in the area of AI research. Control it before it controls us.
I’m always telling people how I remember school, and what we
were taught about a future utopia of a three-day working week, plenty of leisure
time, due to computers taking over all the menial tasks. Freeing us to enjoy
our paradise life on earth… well obviously someone lied!
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| Alas... |
The idea of driverless cars is good, but I don’t want to
forget how to drive a car. I also don’t want to get in the car and be told
where I should be going. A drone delivering mail is okay, as long as it’s
not recording me in my underwear in the garden. Furthering that, I don’t want
it to monitor every time I’m in the garden, or in my underwear!
The idea of
writing a letter, or communicating with my own voice, is still preferable to
sending an emoji, updating Facebook, or telling it with an instagram pic using
a predictive text comment.
The other obvious one is... the Elites getting rid of all the
workers who make everything for them, or the ‘assistants’ that do everything
for them, or the soldiers that protect them… can they? What becomes of us if
they do?
I’m not very good at building mechano robots, programming, or
playing with code…. but I guess I could learn if I had to. What else will there be to do?
A fundamental risk to civilization!
Further reading on the subject...
http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/03/elon-musk-billion-dollar-crusade-to-stop-ai-space-x
UPDATE: 6th Aug 2017: Terrestrial TV documentary to be shown tonight on UK BBC 2 "Secrets of Silicon Valley: The Disruptors" will feature a former tech executive who decided to go off-grid because of the rise of the machines and coming destruction! Link to be posted here tomorrow.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05bc741
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0916ghz/secrets-of-silicon-valley-series-1-1-the-disruptors
UPDATE: 6th Aug 2017: Terrestrial TV documentary to be shown tonight on UK BBC 2 "Secrets of Silicon Valley: The Disruptors" will feature a former tech executive who decided to go off-grid because of the rise of the machines and coming destruction! Link to be posted here tomorrow.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05bc741
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0916ghz/secrets-of-silicon-valley-series-1-1-the-disruptors
