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| Image from Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) • TheNanoAge.com |
One of my favorite movies is Arthur C. Clarke's groundbreaking 2001: A Space Odyssey, filmed in 1968. If you haven't read the book or seen the movie, there's a computer (HAL9000 as you see above) that was programmed to perform certain functions on a spaceship that a human might, easing the burden on the ship's officers. Because he had a brain and power of his own, HAL eventually rebelled and then proceeded with an attempt to exterminate the entire staff of the ship, and he virtually succeeded. This plot may not be entirely fanciful; apparently in this age of advanced technology, Clarke's ideas may have been a premonition.
Stephen Hawking, the utmost physicist of our times, recently agreed to participate in a question-and-answer session on the topic of artificial intelligence on the Reddit site. Check out this link to Reddit (Science Ama Series: I am Stephen Hawking, theoretical physicist. Join me to talk about making the future of technology more human, reddit. AMA! : reddit.com). He had some surprising and scary things to say about AI (artificial intelligence).
Hawking suggests that there is a real reason to worry about the evolution of artificial intelligence. He discussed how he thought there was a possibility that computers can evolve faster than humans. If this were to happen, Hawking suggests that such machines may decide independently to destroy what they feel is irrelevant or undesirable. The ultimate targets could be people.
I tend to agree with him-giving a brain to such advanced technology could be dangerous. What populations might these computers target? Disabled people? Certain races? Perhaps it may decide it does not like anyone who does not have blond hair and blue eyes. It could become like a Hitler made of metal, glass, and silicon chips! Very scary!
We have had many enemies throughout the course of history, so let's think twice about the prospect of unintentionally creating more!
Hawking suggests that there is a real reason to worry about the evolution of artificial intelligence. He discussed how he thought there was a possibility that computers can evolve faster than humans. If this were to happen, Hawking suggests that such machines may decide independently to destroy what they feel is irrelevant or undesirable. The ultimate targets could be people.
I tend to agree with him-giving a brain to such advanced technology could be dangerous. What populations might these computers target? Disabled people? Certain races? Perhaps it may decide it does not like anyone who does not have blond hair and blue eyes. It could become like a Hitler made of metal, glass, and silicon chips! Very scary!
We have had many enemies throughout the course of history, so let's think twice about the prospect of unintentionally creating more!
Very interesting! I did not know this computer existed. I have always wondered if there was something like this that existed. I always wonder when new movies or documentaries come out how true the information is and where the idea came from. This falls into the same boat as those movies but a reality. Nice post I will look further into this.
ReplyDeleteI think that I will have to check it out. Steven Hawking is an amazing mind.
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