ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: THE NEXT DOOMSDAY?
What is Intelligence?
In the words of Stephen Hawking, it is defined as “the ability to
change”. The word ‘change’ has been guiding the survival of each and every
species on this planet. Several theories of evolution are evident to this fact, but how much of this “change” is actually catalysing our way forward without
putting our own existence in jeopardy?
One such change which revolutionised the human world is Artificial
Intelligence. The concept of artificial intelligence was first developed in 1950
which gave birth to the speculation that machines could think. It was
established as a discipline of academics in the year 1956. Since then, billions
of dollars have been invested in
the research and development of the various possible avenues of this topic.
So first of all, what is this Artificial Intelligence and how powerful is it?
A.I. is a kind of manmade intelligence that is put into machines
for creating thinking capabilities in them.
Nowadays, Artificial Intelligence finds its use in nearly every
aspect of our life - Robotics, Self-driven cars, Military, Toys and games etc. Several multinational companies have
even found out a way to mutate A.I. in a way that it can evolve faster than we
can code them, all by itself.
If machines continue to obey Moore’s Law and keep doubling
their speed every eighteen months, the probability is quite high that in the
foreseeable future, they might clearly overtake the human intelligence. This
scenario of “TECHNOLOGICAL SINGULARITY” is predicted by several leading
scientists and researchers. A.I. can thus overtake humans by advanced thinking
or cognitive enhanced biological intelligence or both.
ECONOMIC INEQUALITY DUE TO
A.I.:
In this era driven by technology, jobs that can be done by robots
are increasing exponentially, thus costing the livelihood of human workers all
over the globe.Several jobs like those of cooks, waiters, short-haul truck
drivers and many more are in the endangered zone as A.I. keeps getting better.
Loss of jobs might give rise to a widespread discontentment and concentration
of wealth among a small section of the society.
RISKS OF A SUPER INTELLIGENT COMPUTER:
In a famous book by Stephen Hawking, he wrote:
“People asked a computer
,’Is there a God?’
And the computer said
,’There is now,’
and fused the plug.”
In the recent years, a
humanoid created was asked in an
interview whether it would destroy its creators. It replied with the words
that it would ‘Destroy Humans’. Though, A.I. has proved to be beneficial to
mankind in a majority of cases, several possible drawbacks can be
visualised. In 2010, the flash crash occurred in the stock markets which was
possibly computer triggered. If we increase our dependence on A.I. , can we
imagine what such a crash could do to our military and defence systems or to
our health care systems?
Elon Musk had commented that
A.I. Is far more dangerous than nukes.
A.I. is broadly divided into
three categories:
1)Artificial Narrow
Intelligence(ANI)
2)Artificial General
Intelligence(AGI)
3)Artificial Super
Intelligence(ASI)
We are at present in the
first level, quite far from reaching the highest one. ANI refers to a
computer’s ability to perform a single task with ease, like playing chess.
However, with the correct measures and strategies in place, A.I. can prove to
be a boon for mankind. It can simplify human life by a great deal and make a
lot of impossible dreams true. Space exploration can be eased with the right
A.I. It can support us in healthcare, work and science. At the moment, it is
truly a hidden prize for mankind but the kill switch should always be kept in
our reach in case things go south.
At the end of the day, we
should remember that humans invented the fire for their benefit but they also
needed to make the fire extinguisher.
-RITWICK BANERJEA
2nd YEAR
Department of Chemical Engineering
2nd YEAR
Department of Chemical Engineering
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