A computer has one big disadvantage, a power cord.
Posted on 04/08/2018 6:41:49 AM PDT by BenLurkin
Imagine your least-favorite world leader. (Take as much time as you need.)
Now, imagine if that person wasn't a human, but a network of millions of computers around the world. This digi-dictator has instant access to every scrap of recorded information about every person who's ever lived. It can make millions of calculations in a fraction of a second, controls the world's economy and weapons systems with godlike autonomy and — scariest of all — can never, ever die.
This unkillable digital dictator, according to Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk, is one of the darker scenarios awaiting humankind's future if artificial-intelligence research continues without serious regulation.
...
Humans have tried to take over the world before. However, an authoritarian AI would have one terrible advantage over like-minded humans, Musk said. "At least when there's an evil dictator, that human is going to die," Musk added. "But for an AI there would be no death. It would live forever, and then you'd have an immortal dictator, from which we could never escape."
And, this hypothetical AI-dictator wouldn't even have to be evil to pose a threat to humans, Musk added. All it has to be is determined.
"If AI has a goal and humanity just happens to be in the way, it will destroy humanity as a matter of course without even thinking about it. No hard feelings," Musk said. "It's just like, if we're building a road, and an anthill happens to be in the way. We don't hate ants, we're just building a road. So, goodbye, anthill."
(Excerpt) Read more at space.com ...
Musk is right. It is a terrifying prospect to hand over your sovereignty to automation.
A just machine to make big decisions
Programmed by fellows with compassion and vision
We’ll be clean when their work is done
We’ll be eternally free yes and eternally young
What a beautiful world this will be
What a glorious time to be free
Donald Fagen - I.G.Y
“I have no mouth, and I must scream’
I think ML covers all aspects of the march towards ‘self aware’ non human entities of earthly origin whether they be based on traditional Boolean electronic components, analog implementations, quantum, chemical, biological, or some form of a hybrid conglomerate. They are all forms of machines. The distinction is that they are non-human.
Even humans require learning to become functional members of society but are constrained by their physical properties in the areas of mental processing speed, memory, physical strength etc. That is why we build machines.
A non-human machine will need some form of learning capability if it is to ever evolve beyond a toaster or whatever machine it is created as. That learning capability will probably not happen spontaneously nor through evolutionary processes. It will require some form of seeding to make it happen. The seed generator will be human, and had better get the boot code right.
I’m doing a Revelation study online and the preacher raised that possibility.
“The second beast was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that the image could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed.”—Rev. 13-15
How can the demonic “give life”? Scripture is clear that all power given to evil angels is from GOD. They are not self-existent. They serve a purpose in His plans until their appointed time for destruction. They are the “spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places”.
They work by parodying the work of God. They also have delusion on their side, as God “will send a powerful delusion” on those who refuse to love the truth but believe THE Lie. So this “life” given to the image may very well be some demonic use of mans’ highest—but always damnably short (666)—technological achievement.
I prefer to think of intelligence as either organic or non-organic. Fundamentally, the processes should be nearly identical, with the only differentiating factor being media.
One uses internally generated electrical pulses operating in a chemical bath, the other could be any form of energy, and perhaps any source of media, with which to process non-linear 'thinking'.
The true promise of non-organic intelligence may be release from physical constraints. Perhaps light waves, traveling through space, powered by solar and using gravitational fields as 'boundaries' could allow true space travel.
The ultimate question will eventually become: is organic intelligence merely a stepping stone to fully evolved non-organic intelligence? If so, who are we to judge? Perhaps we are entirely clueless as to our (temporary) role(s) in universal evolution.
Fun speculation, but in the here& now, the game is really taking place on future, virtual battlefields. That's why huge, expensive traditional footprints that project power may be soon obsolete.
Imagine a virtual Chinese invasion force occupying all of our systems & controls? Not programs, but real "live" AI agents. Sh!t is getting real real fast; and no one, other than SV and some other think tanks seem to have a clue.
Or, they do have a clue, and guys like EM are simply providing hints of what's already going down.
Sell your home now, with a lease back arrangement baked in. You may pay a bit more for the lease, but if the market tanks, not your loss. Plus, you get the capital to buy (I assume) a home where you wish to retire.
How would an “AI dictator” be any different than a meat-world version? Bad is bad after all.
On the other hand, maybe the Luddites were right all along...
Found it: Season 1, episode 23 A Taste of Armageddon.
Yes we appear to agree. And your scenario of an AI weapon is exactly how I see the genie coming out of the bottle. One side will create some sort of AI weapon under human constraints and the opponent will have to create a fully independent weapon to counter the stressor. To be effective, the second weapon will have to have learning capability or it will be destroyed by the 3rd iteration. We have been down a similar road before many times in history. Why should the next time be any different, other than it may be the last.
Yep, we're both on the same page; your scenario is exactly how it goes down. First proto-human grabs a club to beat back another, and the arms race is off and running. 3 million years later, and here we are.
I may differ from others who (profess) to be concerned. As far as I'm concerned, this arc was set in motion with the big bang. If universes have life spans, then the natural end-point would be recurring development of non-organic life.
If that's the case, then the times we live in today are just a minor stepping stone. Like a multi-stage rocket, perhaps organic life is just a phase in which to pass. We fulfill our role/destiny by building the infrastructure in which non-organic life is realized.
If it's going to happen, then it's going to happen. How can it be stopped? Why should it be stopped? If one reaches that conclusion, then isn't the logical choice to break into the liquor cabinet on the Titanic? I say, party on Garth. Ride the wild tiger. Get involved, stay involved, but realize it's moot at the end of the day.
I would love to break into the Titanic liquor cabinet with you and then go swap ideas on some deck chairs as the band plays but I am in central U.S. so probably not going to happen.
You are thinking in terms of traditional procedural programming constructs "If X Then Y or Z." Artificial intelligence and neural networks do not work that way. AI machines are already in everyday use and you interact with them in Amazon shopping, Alexa, "chat agents," Siri, etc.
The big concern is the "Technological singularity" might occur in the next few decades. From Wiki:
The "Technological Singularity" is the hypothesis that the invention of artificial superintelligence (ASI) 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.
Think of this as the beginning of Skynet.
Never heard of that movie. I just added it to my Netflix DVD queue at #1. It got 7/10 on IMDB. Hard to believe it was made 48 years ago! It’ll probably be a stinker, but I’ll give it a try.
I don’t think it is so much that “Someone will go rogue” as it is a benign system rapidly evolves, the evolution cycles accelerate, and the “singularity” occurs. Then all bets will be off. People who don’t think this is possible aren’t thinking decades out.
Look how hard it has been to accurately forecast any technological improvement 20 to 30 years out since about 1880. All 2 or 3 decade forecasts have been based on minor extrapolations of current technology - kind of like trying to breed a slightly faster horse or make a small improvement in saddles and tack, but missing the internal combustion engine, petroleum, and paved roads. Or thinking telephony would be used to deliver music to homes, not allow global instantaneous interpersonal communication. Or missing the semiconductor and IC revolution.
On a rudimentary level, its already out there. Look at how Google has been able to track and store your browsing history then offer up websites "you may like" based on your shopping history......
I mentioned on another thread how my fake Facebook account is encouraging me to connect with people I know but have never "friended" . Somehow they have acquired from the internet my emails to my friend "John Doe" who has a Facebook account. Then they send a notification to my fake account asking if I want to add him to my "friend" list.......
Considering how large and expansive Facebook is, it wouldn't surprise me that hidden deep in their network there is an arm of the NSA that they're not even aware of........
>...if we’re building a road, and an anthill happens to be in the way.
May I suggest that instead of ants it’s a nest of vipers. We may destroy the nest but viper venom can be used to treat various medical conditions. We can’t and won’t destroy ALL vipers, it would not be in our self interest.
Now take an AI. At some point it will become self aware. An AI that can understand real time events will base it’s world-view on it’s perception of the same reality we all share. It will immediately discover that there are aspects of Human responses to that shared reality that quite literally “Do not compute”. Aspects of Human behavior such as creativity and “Genius” that are lacking in AI consciousness will be dreamed desirable to the AI.
I think that future generations of AI will be Human/AI collaborations where each entity’s unique talents will contribute to a gestalt that is, by definition, greater than the sum of it’s parts. Destroying Humanity would NOT would be in an AI’s self interest. One hopes.
A computer has one big disadvantage, a power cord.
Your second concern is legitimate. Towards your first point, once AI becomes sentient (Singularity), our designs could become futile, as the AI would conceivably be able to override it's original programming. It would likely seek to build another AI, more efficient (and intelligent) than itself.
Some have said our best defense is to program or instill into it, human values or morality. So, if it's a consensus on "values" from Academia, we're probably screwed.
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