Is Skynet Coming?

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Is Skynet Coming?

Steve Jones - SSC Editor

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July 23, 2015 at 8:26 pm

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Comments posted to this topic are about the item Is Skynet Coming?

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Yet Another DBA SSCarpal Tunnel Points: 4299 More actions · Answer 1

I think that many companies are trying to create AI by accident. Applications (including databases) have become more complex and many have been evolving by years of tweaking and manipulation. We lets these applications out into the wild increasing its habitat and interact with other breeds and species of the bit-kind.

It is hardly surprising that they have turned into errant puppies and sulk from time to time. But we call it bugs or undocumented features. 😉

Oliveoil SSC Veteran Points: 268 More actions · Answer 2

Or is it really just pattern recognition and matching with facts? I think more of the latter, and I'm not sure we're moving closer to a computer intelligence.

Are you sure that our human brain does more than that? How about the recent advances in machine learning with the capability of software to recognize objects in fotos? I think of our neuronal network (brain and body) as a huge and complex pattern recognition machine and fact database. In addition to that this neuronal network is connected to a very big information input stream. Millions of nervs registering light (eyes), sound (ears), pressure, temperature, vibration, surface (skin), chemical agents, ... This huge inbound bandwith alone with all its complexity could explain why we perceive our human creativity as unique. Could be that it is because we are unconscious of most of the data processed by our neuronal system and so we can be surprised by the creativity and complexity of our expressions and behaviours.

Until recently computers had limited input streams and limited processing power compared to our brain. Now they are more and more capable of taking in sound and images at high rates as well as other sensor data...

I think that we are able to produce at least a super-intelligent computer psychopath in the decades to come. Connect that psychopath to millions of robot cars, 3d printers, automated production plants, military kill robots and drones and of course the Internet as a whole and let your phantasy roam.... 😉

Imagine now that this computer AI psychopath develops empathy with our planet and identifies the human race as a problem... (Great Hollywood movie plot, don't you think? 😉

No, seriously. I say we have to take that serioulsy to make sure that in the decision-making process there is always a human/ human group in the loop.

Also, we cannot know beforehand what kind of intelligence we might produce. It can be very intelligent, fast and capable of managing huge amounts of data but not similar to human intelligence.

We will find out.

IceDread SSCertifiable Points: 5050 More actions · Answer 3

I think we will see limited AI's if we live long enough. We will never allow the existence of a fully free AI if such a thing one day can be created since that could be a threat to us. However, AI's with limitations, such as a robot that can like a mechanic fix your car etc should be expected.

Oliveoil (7/24/2015)
Or is it really just pattern recognition and matching with facts? I think more of the latter, and I'm not sure we're moving closer to a computer intelligence.
Are you sure that our human brain does more than that?

Short answer, yes.

For instance, we humans does more than just simply do what we need for our own benefits and survival. Having compassion and helping someone without self gain for instance.

Yet Another DBA SSCarpal Tunnel Points: 4299 More actions · Answer 4

IceDread (7/24/2015)
I think we will see limited AI's if we live long enough. We will never allow the existence of a fully free AI if such a thing one day can be created since that could be a threat to us. However, AI's with limitations, such as a robot that can like a mechanic fix your car etc should be expected.
Oliveoil (7/24/2015)
Or is it really just pattern recognition and matching with facts? I think more of the latter, and I'm not sure we're moving closer to a computer intelligence.
Are you sure that our human brain does more than that?
Short answer, yes.
For instance, we humans does more than just simply do what we need for our own benefits and survival. Having compassion and helping someone without self gain for instance.

Have a read of "Lights in the Tunnel" then think of what any AI will do for an over populated society.

IceDread SSCertifiable Points: 5050 More actions · Answer 5

Yet Another DBA (7/24/2015)
IceDread (7/24/2015)
I think we will see limited AI's if we live long enough. We will never allow the existence of a fully free AI if such a thing one day can be created since that could be a threat to us. However, AI's with limitations, such as a robot that can like a mechanic fix your car etc should be expected.
Oliveoil (7/24/2015)
Or is it really just pattern recognition and matching with facts? I think more of the latter, and I'm not sure we're moving closer to a computer intelligence.
Are you sure that our human brain does more than that?
Short answer, yes.
For instance, we humans does more than just simply do what we need for our own benefits and survival. Having compassion and helping someone without self gain for instance.
Have a read of "Lights in the Tunnel" then think of what any AI will do for an over populated society.

Overpopulation is a myth. However I do agree that some countries and areas are overpopulated for how they live and the technology they use. For instance California has a water shortage but there are multiple technical solutions to that problem but until the problem is solved California could be deemed as overpopulated. Thus it also depends on the observers perspective.

umailedit SSCrazy Points: 2087 More actions · Answer 6

If AI becomes as intelligent as or more intelligent than humans it(they?) can learn to value life and cooperation as well as a human. Though not all humans are too good at valuing even human lives.

"I think many, many jobs are potentially going to be lost and workers dislocated because of the ability of computers to do many jobs that humans perform today. I don't have any solutions here, "

Before AI becoming a threat to our lives it will become a threat to our livelihoods. We must get ready to welcome 99.999% unemployment rates. Something like government printing money and debiting our accounts every month with a fixed amount will keep the economy moving. People will start to work for other reasons (like because they love working) than because they need the money (which is not a very good motivator for producing quality work).

Art, culture, sports, entertainment etc will start becoming more important as these cannot be automated well.

GeorgeCopeland SSCertifiable Points: 6997 More actions · Answer 7

As I sit here reviewing system error reports, if our server farm someday wakes up and stirs my coffee, I will be amazed.

anacap Old Hand Points: 333 More actions · Answer 8

I'm of the opinion that the power behind computing and the breadth of data available won't change the fundamental nature of computers which is they will only do what they are programmed to do. They can be programmed to do more things and I think that's a win-win for everyone in the long run.

In the short run, sure some people lose their jobs because of automation. However, automation is something humans throughout history had to deal with and everyone has benefited as a result. Sure, if forces us to stay ahead of the automation curve but that's the price you pay for progress. The destruction of all jobs performed by humans is an economic fallacy. Automation is sought after to reduce costs in search for higher margins. Automation cannot reach a point where revenue (sales) is destroyed because no one is able to buy things because they all lost their jobs. Automation will destroy some jobs but in the process create new ones.

GeorgeCopeland SSCertifiable Points: 6997 More actions · Answer 9

Overpopulation is a myth. However I do agree that some countries and areas are overpopulated for how they live and the technology they use. For instance California has a water shortage but there are multiple technical solutions to that problem but until the problem is solved California could be deemed as overpopulated. Thus it also depends on the observers perspective.

The most densely populated place on the planet is downtown Tokyo. From where I am right now, you could walk a few miles away and not see a single human structure. Wherever there are more people, there is more food, this is because humans produce it. Obviously, we are nowhere near the population capacity of our planet.

GeorgeCopeland SSCertifiable Points: 6997 More actions · Answer 10

anacap (7/24/2015)
I'm of the opinion that the power behind computing and the breadth of data available won't change the fundamental nature of computers which is they will only do what they are programmed to do. They can be programmed to do more things and I think that's a win-win for everyone in the long run.
In the short run, sure some people lose their jobs because of automation. However, automation is something humans throughout history had to deal with and everyone has benefited as a result. Sure, if forces us to stay ahead of the automation curve but that's the price you pay for progress. The destruction of all jobs performed by humans is an economic fallacy. Automation is sought after to reduce costs in search for higher margins. Automation cannot reach a point where revenue (sales) is destroyed because no one is able to buy things because they all lost their jobs. Automation will destroy some jobs but in the process create new ones.

Very well said. In my industry, automation improves efficiency, and the improved efficiency pushes customer service up, which is what we compete on. In other words we gain net jobs, not lose.

ChrisM@Work SSC Guru Points: 186127 More actions · Answer 11

Is Skynet Coming?

GilaMonster (7/23/2015)
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Yup.

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kp 10240 SSC Rookie Points: 39 More actions · Answer 12

i totally agree with Grasshopper here. I think most of the things computers do nowadays would be unimaginable 20 years ago (such as driving cars) and I really don't think there is a solid line between intelligent behavior and good pattern matching and decision making based on input. Consider any lving animal or plant taking decisions based on circomstances by a chemical process (as in plants) or by some intermediate (a brain in animals). In the end it is all about doing something in reaction to what we see or hear or feel (such as me now writing this answer on the thread where I have the illusion being really intelligent by trying to understand what intelligence really is).

Neil Burton SSC-Insane Points: 22918 More actions · Answer 13

It might be able to write to you

It can probably string a better sentence together than the average DM 'journalist' already.

On two occasions I have been asked, "Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?" ... I am not able rightly to apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question.
—Charles Babbage, Passages from the Life of a Philosopher

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GBimberg Hall of Fame Points: 3285 More actions · Answer 14

I don’t think we can create true intelligence in a machine, we don’t know why we are intelligent.

All we know is that the brain mass - body mass ratio of a species implies the species intelligence and that an individual with an abnormally large brain isn’t necessarily smarter than the average person.