“A.I. is far more dangerous than nukes” - Elon Musk
In society, there is great anxiety over nuclear bombs and nuclear warfare. In today's political climate, the ideas surrounding nuclear bombings destroying nations strikes fear into people. People have a direct fear of nuclear bombs, but no one really fears Artificial Intelligence. Artificial Intelligence is seen as something that can be an asset to humans and can benefit our lives immensely. Rightfully so, there is something more chilling about a nuclear explosion which, in the past, has killed more than 80,000 people in a matter of hours, than a small frisbee shaped robot that uses the power of Artificial Intelligence to clean your floor.
What is Artificial Intelligence?
Artificial Intelligence noun Definition of Artificial Intelligence 1 : a branch of computer science dealing with the simulation of intelligent behavior in computers 2 : the capability of a machine to imitate intelligent human behavior
Artificial Intelligence was created by humans to make the work of humans easier or to complete tasks that humans would not usually be able to complete. We can already see Artificial Intelligence replacing people in the workforce, with jobs that are highly “automatable” being phased out, like drivers or factory workers. Artificial Intelligence was created to mimic cognitive functions that humans have the capacity to do normally, including problem-solving and learning. The steady development of Artificial Intelligence allows humans to achieve things that humans wouldn't be able to achieve alone. While there is a biological limit to the human brain, there is no technological limit to Artificial Intelligence. Technology improves exponentially every single year, which means that the possibilities of Artificial Intelligence are endless. This technology already has the ability to do many incredible things that surpasses the ability of mankind. In one scenario, Artificial Intelligence used raw medical records to predict, with high accuracy, the in-hospital mortalities, 30-day unplanned readmissions, prolonged lengths of stay, and many patient’s final diagnoses.
What makes it potentially more dangerous than nukes?
Artificial Intelligence has great potential for the future. Some scientists believe in an event that can happen in the near future, known as the Technological Singularity. The theory states that technology is developing so rapidly, that at one point there will be a breakaway in the development of technology and Artificial Intelligence. At this point, we would lose control over this new form of intelligent life. Such a breakaway would be caused by some Artificial Intelligence that outsmarts mankind. Some people are optimistic and believe that mankind would be able to use this technology to their advantage, which would involve some integration of this technology into the human body, a controversial topic to discuss. Others are more fatalistic and believe that this Singularity will bring upon a dystopian future; one in which robots and Artificial Intelligence surpasses the knowledge of mankind, and believes in the superiority of their new form of life over their creators, humans. Such outcomes seem similar to those of the plots of science fiction stories: very fantastical and unrealistic. It seems as though nuclear warfare is a much more probable scenario, given the current political climate.
Artificial Intelligence and technology as a whole are improving every single moment. We are moving closer and closer to the time in which scientists hypothesize the singularity would happen. There is no hindrance on this developing probability and there are no governmental regulations on the development of Artificial Intelligence. In turn, this is what makes Artificial Intelligence much scarier and likelier than nuclear warfare. The government turns a blind eye to these developments, whereas nuclear warfare and nuclear developments are under close watch by the whole world.
The global hysteria surrounding nuclear violence is immense and for good reason. Nuclear warfare is extremely disastrous and horrifying. There is a natural fear for something so destructive, however, when it comes to Artificial Intelligence and the rise of robots as a new form of life, it seems as though people only think of the plot behind The Terminator and the true potential of its nature are underestimated and unbeknownst to most people.