The winner takes it all
Location: Cambridge (UK)
Date: Dec 2nd, 2014.
“The development of full Artificial Intelligence could spell the end of the human race."
Professor Stephen Hawking, one of the world’s renowned scientists, is broadcasting with BBC
microphones. As you probably know, Hawking is suffering from the increasingly debilitating
effects of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, so he needs some help from technology to communicate. He
does that by using a small sensor, which is triggered by a muscle in his cheek.
Hawking has gone through countless biological barricades and continues to amaze the world. His
courage and willpower is a living sample of man’s attitude in never giving up. He goes on:
"I believe there is no deep difference between what can be achieved by a biological brain and what
can be achieved by a computer. It, therefore, follows that computers can, in theory, emulate human
intelligence — and exceed it."
What could happen once we managed to create a super-intelligent machine? Hawking believes that
this could be the greatest event in the history of our civilization, as well as the last. Unless we learn
how to deal with it! Close at hand with the benefits, AI will also bring threats like powerful self-
governing weapons or new ways for the minority to oppress the many:
“We cannot predict what we might achieve when our own minds are amplified by AI. Perhaps with
the tools of this new technological revolution, we will be able to undo some damage done to the
natural world by the last one — industrialization.”
His words are echoed on the other side of the world by Max Tegmark, a brilliant mind, and
professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Max Tegmark firmly believes that no physical law says we can’t build machines much smarter than
us, or that intelligence can only live in organic matter. In his view, consciousness is the way
information feels when being processed in specific complex manners and no way it’s a secret sauce
that absolutely requires sweat or blood.
Although it might take time to reach this stage, named by him “Life 3.0”, the threats posed by
Tegmark are real, and we don’t have either a “Plan B” should evil intelligent robot arise.
For example, we’ve done a lot for nuclear war risk reduction, but the question of a good future with
AI is absolutely predominant than all of these other things. Take global warming: surely, it might
create devastating problems for us in 30 or 50 years, but many leading researchers think that strong
AI will arrive before then, in as little as one or two decades.
A super Artificial Intelligence is a much more complicated affair than climate change. First of all,
should that happen, it would utterly change life as we know it. Either it can turn life into heaven, or
it can unleash hell.First option: if appropriately used, AI’s incredible potential will be smart enough to figure out how to solve any kind of problem we have in this freaky establishment, including poverty, diseases, conflicts and climate change itself. There is, however, second option too. Could a machine with an amplified intelligence consider making mincemeat of us?
The winner takes it all
The loser standing small
Beside the victory
That's her destiny
(Abba, “The winner takes it all”)
It is no wonder that Hawking, Tegmark and AI experts have signed an open letter issued by the
Future Of Life Institute to safely coordinate endeavors and ensure AI does not pose an existential
threat as it advances and surpasses human-level intelligence. One of these tech innovators even
pledged 10 million dollars to advocate this cause. Who is this man?
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