Smart machines: What’s the worst that could happen?
This is for sure a polemic subject as it’s been for years. Good to know what’s going on and that they’re approaching all the possibilites of having autonomous machines around.
At least for now we can rest easy on one score. The panel concluded that the internet is not about to become self-aware.
An invasion led by artificially intelligent machines. Conscious computers. A smartphone virus so smart that it can start mimicking you. You might think that such scenarios are laughably futuristic, but some of the world’s leading artificial intelligence (AI) researchers are concerned enough about the potential impact of advances in AI that they have been discussing the risks over the past year. Now they have revealed their conclusions.
At the moment such systems only advise or assist humans, but the AAAI panel warns that the day is not far off when machines could have far greater ability to make and execute decisions on their own, albeit within a narrow range of expertise. As such AI systems become more commonplace, what breakthroughs can we reasonably expect, and what effects will they have on society? What’s more, what precautions should we be taking?
“These are potentially powerful technologies that could be used in good ways and not so good ways,” says HorvitzRead more at www.newscientist.com
