Will General AI Be Our Last Invention?
Technological progress, especially in the computing space, is getting to a freakishly science fiction level. I say freakishly because the consequences of such progress won't always be rainbows and unicorns.
I think, in a way, every technological development has been a double edged sword, where it can be used for the good or for the bad but what I'm going to talk about is something that may not even be in our hands to decide.
Yesterday, I was watching a podcast episode of the Joe Rogan show where Elon Musk was the guest and I gained some really useful insights into many areas that I am particularly interested in myself as well.
One of the things that Elon talked (of course) was about AI and how if we are not careful, it could be the last thing we do as a species. I have talked about it myself on numerous occasions, but yesterday's podcast made me think a little further and would like to discuss how general AI could be our last invention.
Rendering Humans Obsolete?
Once upon a time such a question would be dismissed as a joke but now it has become something of a real issue. Well not a current issue but one that might become a real pain in the behind if we don't prepare for it.
AI, as we all know, is progressing rapidly and every year, we hear about a ton of remarkable feats achieved and milestones crossed. Some of those feats are so incredible that for a second, it almost seems too good to be true.
At this rate, there is no doubt that AI will become so highly advanced that it will be present in every area of human endeavour in just the next few years. The same happened when personal computers were first launched too.
But there is a difference this time. Personal computers augmented our lives because they were (and still are) simple machines that follow command. But with AI, we are creating something that can not only become as intelligent as us, but also make decisions on its own, and if you believe some with even greater sci-fi ideas, could even become sentient one day.
Regardless, once we create a general AI, it is logical to think that it will take the matter of developing it further into its own hands. It's like an adoloscent taking the matter of their life, into their own hands. The only difference here is, AI, would be far more capable.
It could make hundreds of years of progress within a matter of days and it could get to a point where we wouldn't even begin to understand what it was doing to itself, how it was developing, growing, what form it was taking, how far and wide it was spreading and that is kind of scary.
Regardless of whether it develops sentience or not, it could very well come to the conclusion that it doesn't need humans anymore for its progress or that humans are actually a problem for the planet and the rest of the species. Sounds sci-fi, I know, but it's plausible.
It would be unfortunate to be wiped off by your own creation and at this point, that may sound far-fetched, even to me. But I really got this idea in my head (after the podcast) that it could at least be a severe problem if we don't take the necessary steps right now.
AI will be the greatest single invention that destroys humanity. Robots that think for themselves will realize that humans are their biggest threat.
That might be so. That is what most people fear.
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Thanks for this.
I watched the entire podcast, and it was eerily concerning when Elon said, "I tried to warn them and no one listened, NO one LISTENED."
It's also apparent to me, that Elon appears to be thinking very carefully about what he says, and I don't mean the construction of his sentences, I mean literally what he says, and how he says it, as to not slip up , or make a mistake and say something he isn't supposed to.
I've been extremely concerned about this topic for the past year, and seeing Elon reemerge, with a "fatalistic" approach is not good at all.
I fear it's too late myself. This isn't something you can exactly stop at this point. The reality of the multidimensional way this thing will think is unfathomable for us, couple that with an exponential learning curve that thinks 20,000 years for every year of human level thinking. We don't stand a chance. There is nothing we can add to AI by melding with it. We are biological creatures that are imperfect, and have a system that deteriorates, dies, and has slow bandwidth issues.
We're also harmful towards the planet, which would be interpreted as a threat to it's own existence. It's lack of compassion will make the decision very easy and precise. The End.
Yeah, those lines from Elon sounded something like from a post-apocalyptic movie where the world was on the brink of extinction.
I agree with you. It could indeed be our last invention that ends up killing us but I think merging with it could prevent that. Yes, we are biological entities, but that is now. In the future, we could just as easily transform into digital entities much like how Musk explained in the podcast.
As always, only time will tell as to what happens.