Slashdot Mirror
Hawking: AI Could Be 'Worst Event in the History of Our Civilization' (usatoday.com)
An anonymous reader shares a USA Today report: Elon Musk isn't the only high-profile figure concerned about the rise of artificial intelligence. Scientist Stephen Hawking warned AI could serve as the "worst event in the history of our civilization" unless humanity is prepared for its possible risks. Hawking made the remarks during the opening night of the Web Summit in Lisbon, Portugal. Hawking expects AI to transform every part of our lives, with the potential to undo damage done to the Earth and cure diseases. However, Hawking said AI could also spur the creation of powerful autonomous weapons of terror that could be used as a tool "by the few to oppress the many." "Success in creating effective AI could be the biggest event in the history of our civilization, or the worst," he said. Hawking called for more research in AI on how to best use the technology, as well as implored scientists to think about AI's impact. "Perhaps we should all stop for a moment and focus our thinking on not only making AI more capable and successful, but maximizing its societal benefit," he said.
So you're saying he's incapable of learning anything that's not related to theoretical physics and cosmology? Don't forget the amount of time he can dedicate to search and think about a problem. After all, he became Director of Research at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology within the University of Cambridge by sitting on his ass all day long, literally.
#DeleteFacebook
Like most calamities, it's not an existential threat to the species, but it is an existential threat to populations within the species. And it is potentially a long term threat the underlying assumptions on which our civilization rests.
One of the important things about learning from past experience is understanding the predictive limitations of past experiences. In past technological developments we've been talking about massive productivity improvements. The assumption that there would be no more work stemmed from assuming that the standards of living would remain the same. That assumption was wrong; the average household has as many possessions today as a prince would have had two hundred years ago.
But AI poses a distinctly different possibilty: that in the upcoming decades machines may be able to replace people, not just augment them. This could lead to a version of capitalism that entails very rigid hereditary class distinctions; if you have no capital you may find yourself with no means to obtain it because your labor is now worthless.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
No one ever said AI has to be sentient or represent some facsimile of what we consider intelligent to be very real. This does not make it less of a potential threat. Even a single celled organism is capable of responding to it's immediate environment for survival. Bacteria behave in intelligent ways and can kill a person in doing so with quickness. Intelligence does not have to equal consciousness. Nature clearly demonstrates awareness is more complicated - even if in being less so - than our human sensibilities care to deal with. For that matter we don't even know what consciousness really even is. So we can't use it as a litmus test. People say it can never be done because they cannot accept the possibility of a true AI in a way that does not offend their fragile sensibilities of what intelligence means. Let's take the anthropomorphic out of this discussion and start over.
Brought to you by Carl's Junior.