Artificial intelligence was once science fiction, now it’s an integral part of our lives.We are all being monitored repeatedly on a daily basis by machines that imitate cognitive thinking to achieve certain goals. Those machines that constantly try to improve independently are referred to as Artificial Intelligence and at the moment they shape the way our digital world is operating. As a result, it also affects our lives as our dependence on computers and automated systems and their efficiency grows over time.
AGI ( Artificial General Intelligence ) – A hypothetical intelligent entity that mimics human behaviour. Capable of generally thinking ahead and performing different intellectual tasks in order to accomplish goals based on a vision it presumably has. This is what we usually see in Sci-Fi movies. An intelligent independent non-human being with the same intellectual abilities as a human (or above).
Artificial Intelligence is already part of our lives, it impacts anyone with a smart device. We are part of an ongoing experiment that is running in the background of the software on our smart devices. Those programs wait for our actions, record our reactions and add it to a large database. That database is getting larger and larger overtime resulting in ever improving smart devices. AGI on the other hand, is very far from being a reality.
Let us, for a moment, look some miles ahead; exponential increase in technology does lead us to eventually upload our consciousness to a computer. Which is what may make AGI possible. When a human personality copies/uploads itself to a digital environment it can be considered, theoretically, as an AGI entity. Giving the human consciousness access to data and abilities that a biological body can’t obtain. However, according to computer experts we are very far away from uploading our consciousness completely. “Maybe one brain cell we can” says Brian Cox. The optimistic point of view of Brian Cox is not shared among other tech oligarchs.
The growing computer power and exponential increase in the amount of data is directly influencing the improvement of today’s AI systems. As we mentioned before the more data AI systems have the smarter they become, that is why quick improvement with AI happened over the last decade in healthcare, business, architecture, chatbots and more. In some cases we couldn’t predict the rate of improvement in some intelligent AI technologies. This is very concerning for experts because we are less and less worrying about the rate of improvement as long as we can benefit from their use. Some experts think future crisis involving intelligent systems is likely to happen if we won’t change our policy with the use of AI technologies. Elon musk even says we were wrong in the past to predict the rate of improvement of AI systems.
Musk’s concerns about the AI experts’ attitude towards the issue: “The main issue I see in AI experts is that they think they know more than they do. They think they are smarter than they Actually are. This tends to plague smart people, they define themselves by their intelligence and they don’t like the idea that a machine can be smarter than them. So they discount the idea. Which is fundamentally flawed and a wishful thinking situation.”
It is possible Elon means that the upcoming dangers involving AI would be the result of the numb approach of the AI experts that supervise the AI systems and manage the way smart systems develop and improve.
Elon’s strong criticism towards the AI experts was not a one time statement and he repeated his opinion publicly numerous times.
It’s often overlooked what AI can do with full control of tanks, planes, and other military vehicles. It’s tempting for militaries to use AI in troop transport vehicles and sync between them because those war machines, connected via AI, can complete missions without human intervention. In addition, there is the fear of falling behind other military forces; so military high command are keen on developing swarms of AI-controlled war vehicles synced and proficient. However, international organizations are afraid of how deadly those swarms can be when not in human control. So they made regulations to ensure a monitored use of AI: one human will look after those swarms in order for the military to have more control over them.
Artificial Intelligence in healthcare is often used to speed the process of medical procedures to happen. Like diagnostics and such. It is not wrong to say that in healthcare time is crucial and can easily be the difference between life and death. Skin cancer, for example, can be identified and treated early and efficiently by telling the difference between a benign or cancerous lesion. By examining photos of lesions medical specialists can tell the difference between a benign lesion and a cancerous one. Computers using AI algorithms can speed up the process of the examination and even spot lesions that experts are likely to miss.
As of today, the latest AI tech used by skin analytics is the Neural Network. As opposed to Expert Systems, the Neural Network is not programmed to make decisions according to real experts, but rather learns the differences between cancerous and benign lesions by itself. The neural network processes images of skin lesions and decides accordingly, whether the lesion is cancerous or benign. The algorithm uses machine learning technology, where it is shown lots and lots of images and learns the difference between lesions. The AI algorithm by far learned to identify cancer. Probably because it is able to view the images in detail (literally every bit), and found features that qualify cancer. This approach is used in the majority of healthcare research facilities today. Although similar to Expert Systems, we don’t know what it’s choosing in the image and exactly how it works. So it can be problematic to use it. Respectful research facilities like ‘Skin Analytics LTD’ consider the neural network system faulty and insufficient when used in medical devices because of ethical issues.
Expert Systems and Neural networks are still being tested in multiple hospitals seeking to diagnose patients faster in the future.
In this article, we looked at ways AI systems might help and harm us in the future. It helps to understand that in order to make a robot useful and efficient it needs a certain degree of intelligence and make its own decisions. As long as we demand more from our devices, AI systems will become smarter and solve more issues for us. We do know tech oligarchs, that are influential people, are very concerned with Artificial Intelligence and the upcoming repercussions of its development. That is why it is very important to make sure the advancement in digital super intelligence is supervised. As artificial intelligence reaches new milestones and allows us to use our technology to solve more complex problems it’s also very important to have public institutions have insights into it. Especially when it comes to military applications. Perhaps adding AI-regarded regulations to the Geneva Convention. It is important for AI developers to comply with those institutions to make the future of working with AI better and safer.
In this article, we looked at ways AI systems might help and harm us in the future. It helps to understand that in order to make a robot useful and efficient it needs a certain degree of intelligence and make its own decisions. As long as we demand more from our devices, AI systems will become smarter and solve more issues for us. We do know tech oligarchs, that are influential people, are very concerned with Artificial Intelligence and the upcoming repercussions of its development. That is why it is very important to make sure the advancement in digital super intelligence is supervised. As artificial intelligence reaches new milestones and allows us to use our technology to solve more complex problems it’s also very important to have public institutions to have insights into it to make it safer. Especially when it comes to military applications. Perhaps adding AI-regarded regulations to the Geneva Convention. It is important for AI developers to comply with those institutions to make the future of working with AI better and safer.
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This Article only scratched the surface of the AI topic. The book this article is based on contains fascinating things about AI in much more detail.
Audible – Artificial intelligence by: Geoff white , Bernard P. Achampong
Interviews – Elon musk, Brian Cox
Computer memory. what is it? here we explain the most basic things about computer memory, the types of computer memory , how it operates and even how it looks inside, have a quick look and become aware of the coolest things about computer memory.
Computer memory. what is it? here we explain the most basic things about computer memory, the types of computer memory , how it operates and even how it looks inside, have a quick look and become aware of the coolest things about computer memory.
Computer memory. what is it? here we explain the most basic things about computer memory, the types of computer memory , how it operates and even how it looks inside, have a quick look and become aware of the coolest things about computer memory.