ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

There is a great deal of controversy as to whether the benefits of artificial intelligence are worth the risks that could potentially threaten the very existence of humankind. Several writers have suggested the possibility that humanoid robots powered by superior artificial intelligence will eventually replace today’s humans in the same way that modern humans replaced the Neanderthals. Whilst the threat may be real in some respects there are some aspects of such a notion that are completely misconceived.
Firstly, the name artificial intelligence is misleading. What we refer to as artificial intelligence is no more than augmented human intelligence and our fears arise from the possibility that it would be unfettered by human conscience and questions of morality. Artificial intelligence did not create itself, it is a creation of the human intelligence that produced the algorithms or many algorithms involved. This wouldn’t be a problem if the human brain worked exactly like a modern computer or even a quantum computer, but unfortunately it doesn’t .
Humans sometimes behave in a way that appears to defy logic. This may be referred to as perversity, doing the very opposite of what would logically be considered the right course of action. There are many examples of situations in which humans have sacrificed themselves contrary to their own instincts for survival. Humans are also noted for making intuitive decisions which are hard to understand from a logical viewpoint and yet many have proved critical to human advancement.
Developing an algorithm to control the responses of a humanoid robot under every possible scenario is very daunting, if not impossible. One solution would be to include an override to the algorithm that will allow the robot to ‘think for itself’. To enable this to happen the programmer would need to understand amongst other things, the process of human thinking, human consciousness, subconscious influences and the impact of emotions.
Assuming that it is possible to overcome all of the challenges involved and human ingenuity might suggest that we can, it is worth pausing to consider some of the advantages the humanoid robot we have created has gained over normal humans. The robot’s capacity for both the storage of information and speed of retrieval will be vastly superior to that of any human. With the development of quantum computing this advantage will be enhanced even further.
Communications between robots and between robots and a centralised quantum computer will increase the efficiency by which individual robots can cooperate with each other and follow any common purpose. Does such a prospect raise any cause for concern?
Humanoid robots developed to the full extent of what appears to be possible will likely be able to rewrite their own algorithms either individually or collectively. No safeguards that humans may have written into the original algorithm would now be unable to prevent the humanoid from harming humans. In the future Humankind may eventually be considered as just a rather difficult evolutionary step that can now be dispensed with.

Post Views : 31