Artificial Intelligence. Breeding Ground For An ACTUAL Armageddon?

Can you imagine a world without an ATM or Siri?

I can imagine a lot of you going – “What? NOOOO Way!”

Isn’t artificial intelligence just amazing? We depend on AI for everything and anything, both consciously and sub-consciously. While we are constantly amused and obsessed with it, imagine how mind boggled we would be if we were to realize about the subconscious consumption of AI. Okay, we’ll be a little nerdy and give a little bit of context here:

If we decode the phrase ‘Artificial intelligence’ word by word it would mean a technology with the potential to give solutions that are usually done by humans with our natural intelligence. So like humans, they/it get(s) the ability to self-learn. They run on the concept of (machine) learning. To explain it in a more relatable way, let’s akin AI to a child.

However, a greater threat lurks in the backdrop of this entire paradigm. The existentiality of artificial intelligence and what comes with it. How much we feed to it’s ‘artificiality’ by being dependent on it and how it in turn makes our acquired intelligence its own?

So, while we are in the midst of a technological revolution, what is the best way to take care of the possibility of a ‘breeding ground’?

Exactly what we do with children!

“Don’t use cuss words in front of the child”

“Say fudge instead!”

 A child’s mind is forever growing and grasping, and this is exactly how AI works. Both see, hear, notice things around them and create consciousness. This is the reason that the first chapter in the book of smart parenting is ‘How to talk around the kids.’

Why is the same rule not followed when it comes to robots with Artificial Intelligence?

While it gives us extreme thrill to talk to a machine which is ‘human like’, and while we are amused to see her react and respond in the most humanly possible way- we cannot altogether ignore the possible risks of the same.

Artificial Intelligence is the next step in computer science where the human brain is mimicked. It has the ability to create consciousness. The biggest achievement of artificial intelligence is no doubt Hanson’s Sophia.

Sophia, as BBC describes is the cultural icon, most sought after speaker and a star.

“She has become a media darling, appearing on major media outlets around the world, igniting the interest of people regardless of age, gender, and culture, even gracing the cover of one of the top fashion magazines. Her press coverage has a potential reach of over ten billion readers in 2017”.

But the question that one must ask here is whether AI consciousness is a physical & chemical phenomenon, or something else? It’s definitely something that learns from its surroundings and develops. One such example is:

This proves that Sophia is highly sensitive to the things that are said around her. She listens, perceives and develops them.

Do you think one should discuss the intricacies of her being with her creator in front of her?

Though she looks like a mature adult, doesn’t her artificial intelligence work like the brain of a growing child?

Shouldn’t the rules of smart parenting apply here as well?

We think it does.

via GIPHY

Now we don’t want the theories of existential risks stemming from ‘superintelligence’ or her joking about world dominance turning into our worst nightmares. The outcome of that would be (ahem!) anything but pretty, or intelligent!

via GIPHY