‘The Matrix’ could happen – AI in machines could outsmart humans
Advances in technology are generally good for the human race. They help keep us alive longer, make our lives more fulfilling, and generally make the world a much more entertaining place to live. Which is all well and good while we’re in control. The problem is with the continuing evolution of AI (Artificial Intelligence) we may not always be in control.
I’m a huge fan of The Matrix trilogy of movies. Sure, they may be getting a bit long in the tooth now, and sure, the third film may be a dodgy end to the series. But still, they make for compelling viewing, even a decade after the original film was released. And what makes them so compelling is the fact that the dystopian future detailed in The Matrix trilogy could actually happen.
OK, so The Matrix could be a dramatized version of how things could pan out, and most people will rightly call any prediction of that kind of future for Earth over-the-top and overly pessimistic. But the fact remains that the rise of AI and machines that think for themselves and operate without any user interaction is a worrying trend.
The New York Times recently reported that it isn’t just laymen such as me worrying about this kind of thing. In fact, a groups of researchers made up of “leading computer scientists, artificial intelligence researchers and roboticists” met at the Asilomar Conference Grounds in California in February to discuss these concerns.
News of this conference, held at the same venue as the one used by leading biologists in 1975 to discuss the side effects of genetics and DNA research, has taken this long to emerge because it was held in private. But a report detailing what was discussed and decided is set to be published later this year.
While the researchers discounted “highly centralized superintelligences” and the prospect of the Internet being the breeding ground for the first AI spark, they did agree that machines which can kill without being commanded to are already here. They also expressed concerns that the criminal underworld could use AI to its advantage, especially in regards to obtaining personal information.
I certainly think this is an area of science and technology that needs to be closely monitored and have firm rules and regulations in place in order to stop machines becoming the dominant species on the planet. That prospect may seem kooky and far-fetched now but surely that’s the direction we’re already heading in. And that scares me.
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July 26th, 2009
It’s a little silly to think that a computer can “think”…
July 28th, 2009
The real problem is that if the good guys don’t do the research and keep ahead, the criminals will eventually get there, and then the good guys will probably never catch up.
A situation may eventually come about where in order to maintain control over non-biological intelligences. humans will be forced to artificially enhance their own intelligence.
p.s. George Gardner wrote:
‘It’s a little silly to think that a computer can “think”’
Well George, they cant think now, but when you really “think”, about what thinking is, you may realize that you may want to do, is listen to what the smartest people in the world have to say about the subject – you may just learn something!
December 2nd, 2009
Well you’re certainly not the smartest person. And your logic implies you are an atheist.
December 3rd, 2009
George said: “Well you’re certainly not the smartest person.”
Well, you are right, but I would be interested to know how you arrive at such certainty – I presume that you consider yourself justified in the assertion because you perceive your own intellect to be greater than mine, and are therefore better able to find flaws in my reasoning…
George said: “And your logic implies you are an atheist.”
And what if I were?
December 24th, 2009
Read The Singularity is Near by Ray Kurzweil.
Man can be considered the intermediary stage between the biological (natural) world and the technological (artificial) one. In our lifetime, it would not be impossible for man amd machine to merge to such a degree that you could differentiate between them.
Maybe it’s a good thing. The human race is pretty shitty, just look at these replies. We’re cruel, spiteful, petty, sometimes evil – in other words, just primates. We are just the step before machines in the evolutionary line starting back when we were just amoeba in the primordial goo. Monkeys became men and men will become machines.
December 24th, 2009
Yes Rick, I think you and Ray are right about where we are going, but I do think that we are a little more than “in other words, just primates”.
We have a large neocortex which we can use to control our primitive emotional drives – one of the major differences between apes and humans.
see the nova pbs video on the differences between apes and humans
I suspect that George will dislike you even more than me ;-)
April 10th, 2010
“It’s a little silly to think that a computer can “think”…<—-george gardner
it's a little silly to discount something because you can't comprehend it, redneck.
April 10th, 2010
George provides some good evidence to support his claims, unfortunately this evidence is invisible to those of us who are literate. Go home George, unless you plan to provide evidence to back up your ignorant claims, the internet is for thinkers not sheeple.
April 10th, 2010
Is it just me or is George Gardener talking like a smart person but sounding like a moron?
April 10th, 2010
Computers thinking, HAHa, you ignorant liberals. The day computers think is the day i take the confederate flag off of my 20 yearold chevy.
April 10th, 2010
Also stop bashing me, you morons, god is the only creator just because people with thousands of times more experience on the subject than me say something is possible, doesnt mean i have to listen to reality.
April 10th, 2010
and i’m not a redneck, i’m just incapable of critical thought processes. there is a difference, and i’d explain what that is but i’m a troll.
April 10th, 2010
It’s a little silly to think i can respond to opinions differing from my own without resorting to insults such as “athiest” because in the backwoods where my mother had me after a 7 month pregnancy my education stopped at 11.
April 10th, 2010
WHITE POWER
December 9th, 2010
“I certainly think this is an area of science and technology that needs to be closely monitored and have firm rules and regulations in place in order to stop machines becoming the dominant species on the planet.”
To a super intelligent AI machine this would be comparative to a planet of insects trying to stop humans from overtaking. This is just a case of evolution why would we keep a god like computer in a cage for fear that it would do a worse job than us at ruling the planet. o.k. perhaps they might decide to get rid of us, but you would like to think it’s decision might be a valid one.
April 8th, 2011
Its also silly to think that a computer can crunch numbers in a fraction of the time that the human brain can.
Was also silly at one point to think that energy could be supplied to a glass bulb and provide light for a room.
Sometimes we hit that Submit button a little sooner than we give ourselves the chance to logically think things over…happens to all of us.
Leave the man alone.
The dangers of advancing AI, is giving computers the ability to innovate. In which, case the WWW is, as one individual stated above, a breeding ground for intelligence. This is very true.
Idea (-noun)
def: any conception existing in the mind as a result of mental understanding, awareness, or activity.
October 30th, 2011
In the field of science-fiction, there is also Iain M. Banks’ Culture cycle, in which the galactic civilization called the Culture relies heavily on artificial intelligences. If such a civilization can be conceived as a sort of “computer-aided” anarchy, it seems to give a more optimistic view. For an analysis, see for example: http://yannickrumpala.wordpress.com/2010/01/14/anarchy_in_a_world_of_machines/ or http://www.inter-disciplinary.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/rumpalaepaper.pdf