AI is getting smarter all the time - but is it really intelligent?
AI is getting smarter all the time - but is it really intelligent?
Artificial intelligence (AI) has made massive strides in recent years, with computers mastering difficult board games like Go and teaching themselves to play Super Mario Brothers. That’s given people the impression that AI systems are becoming more intelligent every day – but are they really? What makes us say something has intelligence? And how do we know when an AI system has reached that level?
Are humans the smartest animals on Earth?
One issue with humans is that we often draw false conclusions because of confirmation bias. This happens when our brains want something to be true so we look for information that proves us right and ignore any evidence to the contrary. A good example of confirmation bias might be having a pet dog and believing dogs are more capable than cats at understanding people and being affectionate. That might be true, however, if you only own one cat you might not recognize how affectionate they can be (this study seems to confirm my opinion on cats).
Are robots going to replace us?
In a word, yes. But don’t panic. The fact that artificial intelligence will replace some of your jobs in five to ten years is absolutely inevitable, and anyone arguing otherwise doesn’t understand technology or economics. If you are sitting at a desk job now, I can guarantee you that your role will be replaced by an AI system within 15 years (sooner if those pesky economists get their way). So why should we care? It’s not like robots are going to start pulling people out of their homes or anything like that – right? What’s wrong with taking some repetitive work off our hands so we can focus on more important things, like building new technologies or spending more time with our families?
Will our computer overlords be benevolent leaders?
AI technology has advanced to a point where some experts feel that true intelligence—aka artificial general intelligence (AGI)—is just around the corner. It’s an exciting prospect and it’s fair to ask if we should be concerned about machines with brains just like ours eventually taking over. The reality is that we don’t yet know what AGI will look like, let alone whether it will have our best interests at heart. But regardless of whether robots end up being our friends or foes, we need to start thinking about how to prepare for them now. Our future relationship with AI may well depend on how society develops in response to autonomous machines today. Here are three possible scenarios
Is AI capable of creating new technologies faster than humans can use them?
Human intelligence still reigns supreme when it comes to invention. AI may be able to think faster than any human and can even create new technologies that are useful, but as long as we remain in control of technology there’s no risk of being outpaced by AI. While we can’t say for sure what future generations will do with these new tools, there is little evidence that our creations are becoming more capable than ourselves. It will be a long time before computers are capable of outwitting humans.
What kind of future are we heading towards?
Let’s assume that all of these recent breakthroughs mean AI is going to grow significantly over coming years. The question we have to ask ourselves, then, is: What kind of future are we heading towards? Are there any negative or potentially harmful side effects associated with using increasingly advanced AI technology? Or will human benefits and advantages outweigh any concerns we might have in this area moving forward? These issues are yet to be resolved but as our understanding of artificial intelligence grows and improves, eventually we may reach a point where society will make important decisions about how (and if) humans should co-exist with machines. We must do more research before making those calls.