Artificial Intelligence and Superintelligence
The Computer Sciences has had a substantial progress between this and the last century. We have managed to solve a lot of our problems based upon our knowledge in this applied science. And maybe this will help us reach the most important invention of our whole history, or as some have called it, "The last invention".
What is an artificial intelligence?
Well, by definition:
Artificial intelligence (AI, also machine intelligence, MI) is intelligence displayed by machines, in contrast with the natural intelligence (NI) displayed by humans and other animals. In computer science AI research is defined as the study of "intelligent agents": any device that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its chance of success at some goal. Colloquially, the term "artificial intelligence" is applied when a machine mimics "cognitive" functions that humans associate with other human minds, such as "learning" and "problem solving".
All the efforts applied to develop this intelligence have been very fruitful, because we have been able to develop artificial intelligence able to defeat or outsmart even specialized humans in various scenarios. Examples of this would be the chess and GO tournaments in which AI have participated, considerably making the point.
Of course, after all the progresses, it has been used to solve some of our issues. AI has been useful applied to healthcare, the automotive industry, economics and even video games.
The AI has been also of great aid in the development of tools that have help us to solve numerous problems related to the Computer Sciences. Some of these are the contributions to neural networks, languages (like C++ and python) and control theory.
And as all of this is taking place, there are futurism enthusiasts like me that wonder, Will we be able to create consciousness? Is it possible to recreate artificially what we know as consciousness? And what could happen after we do it if it is possible?
Another interesting implication of the development and further advancement of the AI is the emergence of what it is called the Superintelligence.
A superintelligence is:
A superintelligence is a hypothetical agent that possesses intelligence far surpassing that of the brightest and most gifted human minds. "Superintelligence" may also refer to a property of problem-solving systems (e.g., superintelligent language translators or engineering assistants) whether or not these high-level intellectual competencies are embodied in agents that act in the world. A superintelligence may or may not be created by an intelligence explosion and associated with a technological singularity.
With a successful AI creation, this intelligence will have the capability of self-improve its intelligence and then self-improve it once again, becoming even smarter than before, and so on. This would leave us to witness what many scholars have called the singularity, triggered by this intelligence explosion that i just explained.
For your better understanding this is what the definition of the singularity is:
The technological singularity (also, simply, the singularity) is the hypothesis that the invention of artificial superintelligence will abruptly trigger runaway technological growth, resulting in unfathomable changes to human civilization. According to this hypothesis, an upgradable intelligent agent (such as a computer running software-based artificial general intelligence) would enter a "runaway reaction" of self-improvement cycles, with each new and more intelligent generation appearing more and more rapidly, causing an intelligence explosion and resulting in a powerful superintelligence that would, qualitatively, far surpass all human intelligence.
There have been many debates about the plausibility of this project, or whether it is safe or not. There have been many critics to this, some made by very prominent figures like Stephen Hawking and Elon Musk. Also the various existential risks discussed about it, like the possibility of this intelligence turning its back on us. But there have been also people who argue the contrary.
In my opinion, there have always been risks because of any significant advance in technology, but if we manage to pull this out, it would worth it. Just imagine the potential, what we couldn’t do after this happens? With the aid of a superintelligence we would be capable of discovering everything and solve every single problem humanity has faced, and beyond. That’s why it is called the singularity, because it is impossible to even imagine accurately what to expect.
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To me, it seems inevitable that humans will be replaced as the dominant life form on this planet. That does not mean that we will all die.
Even if it happens in a distant future, this is almost unavoidable, because as technology advances we will realize that to advance at the same rate we will have to become one with our own technology. Or at least that's what we can predict.