Artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race

[Cyclone]

...but is that awareness?

I'm of the opinion that if it looks like awareness from the outside (black box), then that's awareness as far as an observer can tell. Successfully pretending to be aware, is the same as being aware.

 

Seems to me that's the crux of the question: so long as AI is not self-aware, where is the danger?

If a computer has simulated a full human brain neural network, then as far as we understand it (with the right stimuli) it will become aware.

 

---------- Post added 04-12-2014 at 07:32 ----------

 

They are still only doing as instructed though. They will never rule the world.

 

You are only doing "as instructed" by your DNA. You're a biological computing machine, quite complex, a bit squishy, but there's nothing inherently special about your wetware.

[spilldig]

I'm of the opinion that if it looks like awareness from the outside (black box), then that's awareness as far as an observer can tell. Successfully pretending to be aware, is the same as being aware.

If a computer has simulated a full human brain neural network, then as far as we understand it (with the right stimuli) it will become aware.

 

---------- Post added 04-12-2014 at 07:32 ----------

 

 

You are only doing "as instructed" by your DNA. You're a biological computing machine, quite complex, a bit squishy, but there's nothing inherently special about your wetware.

 

A machine can't reason and think things through. They can't rule.

[Guest]

A machine can't reason and think things through. They can't rule.

 

Not at the moment no. You do understand that this is what AI researchers are for aiming for?

 

Who said they would want to rule? Who's to say they don't just decide we're a plague that needs to be removed from the planet?

[Cyclone]

A machine can't reason and think things through. They can't rule.

 

I think you're basically missing the point.

 

There is no fundamental reason that a "machine" can't think. Electronic or biological, it's possible to think and be self aware.

We just haven't got there yet with the electronic version. We will though.

[RootsBooster]

A machine can't reason and think things through. They can't rule.

 

No it can't, yet. We're talking about true AI though, not just simple machines.

 

---------- Post added 04-12-2014 at 12:29 ----------

 

Not at the moment no. You do understand that this is what AI researchers are for aiming for?

 

Who said they would want to rule? Who's to say they don't just decide we're a plague that needs to be removed from the planet?

 

It could easily be that if an AI program was asked to calculate the biggest risk posed to Earth's survival as a viable ecosystem, it would be us.

[PeteMorris]

Funnily enough earlier I was reading about google introducing a new type of (non) Capcha type thing to determine if the user was a robot or malicious script.

 

While the new reCAPTCHA API may sound simple, there is a high degree of sophistication behind that modest checkbox. CAPTCHAs have long relied on the inability of robots to solve distorted text. However, our research recently showed that today’s Artificial Intelligence technology can solve even the most difficult variant of distorted text at 99.8% accuracy. Thus distorted text, on its own, is no longer a dependable test.

 

I was intrigued to read that they referred to robots as AI

 

http://googleonlinesecurity.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/are-you-robot-introducing-no-captcha.html

[Guest]

It could easily be that if an AI program was asked to calculate the biggest risk posed to Earth's survival as a viable ecosystem, it would be us.

 

Indeed, I think it's in The Matrix where we're equated to a disease on the planet....which is pretty accurate in the grand scheme of things

[projection]

No it can't, yet. We're talking about true AI though, not just simple machines.

 

---------- Post added 04-12-2014 at 12:29 ----------

 

 

It could easily be that if an AI program was asked to calculate the biggest risk posed to Earth's survival as a viable ecosystem, it would be us.

 

by telling us it's our human collective ignorance towards ourselves as a species, that we need to lock down our democracy's to the point where greed is educated out of us and abolished with the ultimate price of shamed to death through self euthanasia if you can't handle being fair.

 

we just need to program it to give us a chance

[johncocker]

the human race can only survive under limited, ideal conditions (small temperature range, constant need for food, liquid water, oxygen). We also each have quite a limited life span. Even if we don't make the Earth uninhabitable ourselves it will eventually be unable to support us as the sun ages and expands (and eventually engulfs the earth). Therefore perhaps our chance of immortality as a species is to build conscious machines in our likeness,so if we push ahead with our own demise and do the planet a favour, making sure we make some really truely super intelligent machines in the process ,maybe they'll keep a sustainable amount of us as pets or slaves like we do with endangered species

sorted:thumbsup:

[Cyclone]

Machines that are still on earth aren't going to survive the sun dying.

 

Ultimately our only chance as a species is to get off this rock, and then out of this single system.

 

And even then, a gamma ray burst in the stellar neighbourhood could sterilise everything within 25 light years! So we need to spread out beyond that to actually be "safe" on a longer term.

And then I guess there will be longer term threats to start worrying about.