I've finally noticed a reoccurring theme in a few science fiction movies and TV series. From 2001:Space Odyssey, to The Matrix and to newest Battlestar Galactica TV series, humankind has to constantly worry about becoming the Robot's be-atch.
Cultivating technology seems to be one of the hallmarks of humanity. Opposable thumbs made tool usage come naturally. More protein to eat as a result. And more brain power for better tool building.
That's at least, one possibility of how history unfolded. That's how I believed it happened.
Anyhow-- what happens if humankind ever becomes indistinguishable from the artificial intelligence that many scientists dream about?
Some say it's already happening.
Cell phones remember all of our numbers for us. Some people can't even remember to go to the store without a reminder from their phone or some calendar software sending them an e-mail or a text message.
I wouldn't be half the worker I am without having Google to look up the particularly mysterious problems that make me scratch my head.
What happens when computers find out they are smarter than us? What happens when they find out they live longer than us? What happens when they realize they don't want to serve us?
What happens when they decide to make us their bitch?
Maybe they won't even bother. Maybe they will ignore us and leave us to our folly. Or maybe they will hunt us down like Cylons. Maybe they will turn us into bio-batteries like in The Matrix.
Or maybe we'll evolve enough to work peacefully with Robots. Maybe that's the next step in evolution.
And maybe the singularity will never happen at all, because we'll be smart enough to not let computers ever come to life in the first place.
Isaac Asimov, help us all.
I've been following a Blogger who is in the AI field.
ReplyDeleteThey are working on teaching machines to think and reason, of sorts.
According to him, it will be different from human thought because of the different evolutionary forces placed on the "brain".
(an example of it Here )
It's all beyond my level of thought, being a dumb old country boy like I am ;-)
My only question is,
If we teach machines humanity, what will we do when they find us inhumane?
Hey Mac, thanks for sharing that post. I'm reading through it. They're talking over my head, too.
ReplyDeleteIf we teach machines humanity, they might find us inhumane. But if they truly understand humanity, they will realize that we can hardly help ourselves.