• Question: what is the possibility of (in the future) the world being taken over by a artificial intelligence?

    Asked by 326nepk48 to Ed, Kerrianne, Nina, Oli, yoyehudi on 4 Nov 2017.
    • Photo: Yo Yehudi

      Yo Yehudi answered on 4 Nov 2017:

      It’s an interesting idea, and it doesn’t have to be a scary Terminator-like scenario, either. It seems entirely possible that we could end up with friendly AIs that are quite happy to take over nitty-gritty stuff like managing traffic or flight patterns, and then it might expand out further to other useful government functions.
      If you like the idea of sci fi books about friendly AIs that make sure everything runs smoothly, you could read include The Culture series by Iain M Banks – my favourite is Player of Games – https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18630.The_Player_of_Games.
      Another book that explores what it might be like to have a friendly AI who work with us and helps us do crucial tasks is A Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22733729-the-long-way-to-a-small-angry-planet

    • Photo: Oli Wilson

      Oli Wilson answered on 6 Nov 2017:

      In some ways, we’re nearly there already… Over the last few months I’ve heard a few programmes talking about the algorithms companies use to interpret our data. These algorithms could be considered artificial intelligence (they’re making their own decisions based on the information you give them, and some learn on their own), and the power they have is enormous. For example, the average facebook user ‘likes’ 225 things, and using that information the facebook algorithm can predict your personality as well as your husband or wife could! (From the BBC Inquiry programme – clip here http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p050g27t and I recommend the full programme too.) These algorithms, many of which we can’t stop and don’t understand, can have huge power. In some parts of the USA, algorithms decide whether a guilty person goes to prison, or whether a teacher deserves to be fired; they can decide if you get a loan or a job interview… It’s a bit scary. A lady called Cathy O’Neil has written a book about this called Weapons of Math Destruction – she can hear or read more of her examples in this TED talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/cathy_o_neil_the_era_of_blind_faith_in_big_data_must_end/transcript

    • Photo: Kerrianne Harrington

      Kerrianne Harrington answered on 7 Nov 2017:

      AI is a tool, and with all new tools they can be used for good and bad. We have to be careful! I think it’s less likely AI will spontaneously take over (like Skynet) and more likely people will use it to do bad things.

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