Just How Intelligent Are We?

In the face of our rapidly advancing technologies, it’s time to make some important decisions. Yes, we can do things never before possible. But should we?

Beyond the lawn mower programmed to work its way around the garden, or the Roomba that vacuums the carpet while we’re gone, much more sophisticated applications of artificial intelligence (AI) are set to revolutionize the whole of life. Voice-recognition technology can already save the doctor’s administrative assistant keying in multiple case histories, and robotic surgery for knee replacement is more precise and effective than a human surgeon. And while many tasks that demand manual dexterity in small spaces (such as plumbing installation and repair) may not be automated in the foreseeable future, others (such as auditing complex businesses) have already become the domain of intelligent machines.

None of these are areas where people have concerns about the dangers of AI, because at the moment software robots cannot replace refined human judgment. But we all know that when something becomes possible, though still ethically undesirable, we can’t prevent its eventual use by someone.

Source: http://www.vision.org/human-and-spiritual-challenges-of-artificial-intelligence-8579