The Future of AI
AI is here, and it’s here to stay — but where is it heading?
In the wake of the Facebook chatbots shutdown, AI has been top of mind for many. And as things develop, many are left wondering if the benefits will outweigh the concerns.
Now, in case you didn’t already know, Facebook has been in the media for all the wrong reasons in recent weeks due to a bizarre AI blunder — namely, its automated chatbots inventing their own language.
Not too long ago, researchers at Facebook Artificial Intelligence Research developed a chatbot that was supposed to learn how to negotiate by mimicking the ways of human trading and bartering.
However, Bob and Alice, as the bots were affectionately known, began communicating with one another in their own language. The reason for this is because Facebook’s team assigned no reward for carrying out the trades in English.
So, rather incredibly, and somewhat unnervingly, the two chatbots were able to converse and perform actions in their own incomprehensible (to us) way, in a tongue that can only be described as ‘AI’.
Whichever way you look at it, AI is omnipresent — and it’s only getting bigger. There’s little doubt that artificial intelligence has made our lives more efficient, even smarter, but like any emerging technology, there’s always two sides of the coin.
Will the robots take over or will they make our lives better?
The concerns
Stephen Hawking has gone as far as to say that AI could spell the end of the human race. And of course, Elon Musk recently shared his fears of AI running riot before, likening it to “summoning the demon.” That said, it’s safe to say there are some concerns about AI out there.
Here are some other popular AI concerns:
● Programs will need to be updated to suit evolving requirements, and machines will need to be made smarter, incurring huge maintenance costs.
● Will our moral values allow us to recreate intelligence on an even greater scale? Intelligence is regarded by many as a gift of nature. It may not be right to instil intelligence into a machine to make it work for our benefit.
● If the control of machines falls into the wrong hands, it could well cause destruction. Machines won’t think about their actions As a result, they may be programmed to do the wrong things, or even create carnage on a mass scale.
● AI technologies run the risk of transforming society into an enhanced human race versus a non-enhanced human race, which could lead to volatile conflicts and societal unrest.
As you can see, there are strong arguments on both sides of the AI spectrum, but ultimately, AI is here to stay, and if handled with care, respect, and of course, human intelligence, we stand a chance of enjoying a prosperous and harmonious future.
But, with concerns comes benefits — and of course, these are worth noting. A recent article by Business Insider provides a gauge on what some of the expert researchers think:
The benefits
Pieter Abbeel: “Robots will keep us safer, especially from disasters.”
Shimon Whiteson: “I really think in the future we are all going to be cyborgs. The human and the computer are really quickly becoming one tightly-coupled cognitive unit.”
Stuart Russell: “Very smart computers could solve all our problems, including climate change.”
Oren Etzioni: “AI might even save the world. All these things that we’ve contemplated, whether it’s space travel or solutions to diseases that plague us, Ebola virus, all of these things would be a lot more tractable if the machines are trying to solve these problems.”
Dr Vivienne Ming, a world-leading expert on artificial intelligence, believes that the advancement of machine learning technology has the power to optimise human potential and improve education across the globe.
“I want a world where EVERYBODY is fully realised. Not just those that can afford it.” — Dr Vivienne Ming
By making AI capabilities available to everyone, regardless of their socio-economic background, Dr Ming feels the power of AI combined with human skills, will change the world in a positive way.
This is perhaps the most optimistic view of all — and only time will tell what kind of impact AI will have on our lives — but one thing’s for sure, we’re living in exciting times indeed.
Still not decided? Check out The Time to Embrace Artificial Intelligence is Now — a pivotal part of FlipTin’s ongoing Insights series — and let us know your thoughts.
