Opinion: Why are so many experts suddenly worried whether artificial intelligence will kill us all? Let’s walk through the basics of AI to find out.
Greg Moore
Arizona Republic
Concerns over smart computers are nothing new, so why are so many experts suddenly wondering whether artificial intelligence will kill us all? Are we really at risk of extinction from robots?
As far-fetched as it may sound, these are reasonable questions, and they’re not the only ones.
Let’s deal with some of them.
Is AI a real threat?
It’s real. Computers are learning faster and faster each time anyone uses them. Geoffrey Hinton, the “Godfather of AI,” said as much when he resigned from Google recently.
“Look at how it was five years ago and how it is now,” Hinton said, speaking to The New York Times. “Take the difference and propagate it forwards. That’s scary.”
How quickly is AI growing?
Sticking with the 75-year-old Hinton, who now says, in effect, that he regrets his life’s work, computer intelligence is growing exponentially.
Computers, Hinton said, speaking to BBC News, “can learn separately but share their knowledge instantly. So, it’s as if you had 10,000 people and whenever one person learned something, everybody automatically knew it.”
Now, imagine if they all decide that humans are an existential threat to the planet, and therefore to the computers, themselves.
