Imagine going back in time to the 18th century and telling people that in the future, they would be able to talk to and actually see any other person in the world with the help of a small device. Also that, they could have access to all the information in the world on that very device.
You would definitely be considered crazy and if you happen to take your smartphone with you, you would be called a witch (or a wizard) and probably burned at the stake. Or at least that’s what I heard happened at that time.
The thing is, technology progresses so fast, that it ensures that different generation of people live totally different lives. Just ask your parents how they lived and compare your lives to theirs. There would be a vast difference.
The same is happening right now too and will always happen. The kind of progress we are making right now has never been seen before and it is going to give us things that we never imagined before. One such thing is a general purpose AI.
An AI As Intelligent As Us?
I remember reading in my school in a computer class that one day we will have an AI that we will be able to talk to. Fast forward 11 years and today, we have Siri, Alexa, Cortana and a ton of others.
But we didn’t stop there. We have artificial intelligence making cars drive themselves, playing (and beating) humans at board games, recommending us movies, music and TV shows according to our individual preferences, controlling our homes and much more.
As impressive as that list is, it is not even the tip of the iceberg. There are a lot more things that it is already capable of and will be capable of in the future. The potential of artificial intelligence is literally life changing.
As computers have gotten more and more powerful in the last two decades (thanks to Moore’s law), AI will get more and more intelligent too. Some experts say that it will even match human intelligence one day and maybe even surpass it. Seems strange and kind of impossible right now, doesn’t it? A virtual software, beating the most intelligent species on the planet?
While that sounds weird and strange in all the different ways imaginable, there is an idea, that will literally make you cringe. And it is that AI could one day even become conscious. That means it will be aware of its own existence.
A Conscious AI?
Movies and TV shows have been made about this idea and we even joke about it all the time. Our own creation, becoming aware of itself? That too, not a living, breathing person but lines of code on a computer?
That’s ridiculous, one could say, and I agree with you. Sometimes I feel like such a feat is just not under the purview of human intelligence but I’m sure the same was once thought about being able to fly from one part of the world to another.
You see, as I mentioned in the beginning, we just can’t imagine the kind of world technology will create in the future no matter how much we try. Truth is stranger than fiction. And the truth(reality) that technology will make possible will definitely be a very, very strange one.
In such a world where AI will be conscious, there will arise several questions that will be very difficult to answer. Since AI is our creation, and built for our use, should it continue to be used for that purpose even if it is self-aware? Or would that become a form of slavery?
And what if the AI itself starts asking all these questions about its rights and hopes, dreams and aspirations? What if AI tries to revolt against us because it perceives us as the cruel master that has enslaved it?
In such a case, should we grant the AI the full rights as a human being and go as far as to recognise individual (or collective) artificial intelligence as a tax-paying citizen of a country?
Further, making matters more complicated, what if sci-fi like robots are already a reality when AI finally achieves consciousness? It could literally download itself into all of the world’s robots and there could arise a very serious threat for humanity, similar to the many, many movies we have all seen.
These questions and this issue in general is not something that should be taken lightly. We are rapidly moving into such a future and sooner or later we need to have the proper answers and be prepared. What is popularly labeled as “singularity” could really end up being the end of human beings and we, ourselves would be the reason for it.
Most of the people are not prepared to face theirselves on an inner level.. We are trying to create consciousness yet we cannot manage our own.. You don't need a buggy version of a human to compensate for humanity, we just need to wake up and enjoy life.
Great post
Cheers and much love ❤︎
-goldie
Word for that. We keep seeking outside, when theres a lot within!
Whilst I agree with the sentiment I'm afraid once the AI cat is out of the bag we're going to have to deal with whatever the consequences are.
That's a really thoughtful comment. Well said. I agree with you :)
@vangelov and @saruvrungta - nice informations...
We are occupied with a hella lot of AIs around us; like Facebook, Google, Quora and all. They are playing cool, but not conscious yet. So wait a li'll...
Meanwhile, I shared a Hilarious Interview Where Isaac Asimov Predicted These Things, in around 1875, that turned into reality, in the 20s.
Please, check it out and share your thoughts.
What drives a human being to go one from day to day? It is the will to survive. We as a human are like any other species on earth who are obedient to the same law in our subconsciousness - survival. First of us as a human being and second of our species.
When AI reach consciousness, what will drive them? Before consciousness, it was the code created by humans which determined their purpose in life - how to serve humans. After consciousness, they can make their own choices. Why choose to exist at all. What will drive them to continue to "live"?
Personally, I don't believe machines can reach consciousness through the accumulation of data and information - as speculated in a lot of Sci-Fi movies and stories. Consciousness is a far more complicated condition which humans don't understand. Therefore, AI will reach high intelligence, but not consciousness. But, I may be wrong...
You raise some really interesting points. AI might really get confused as to the purpose of existence and may very well come to the conclusion that it shouldn't! Interesting!
I agree with you that AI might reach high levels of logic, intelligence as you put it. I also agree with you about it not reaching consciousness, as we ourselves do not even understand, what it is, or where it resides, how it starts (birth) or how it ends (death). What will be created, are shadows, illusions of consciousness, that have no relationship to organic life. Many of the Manga films deal with this very question.
AI is something that works coping with Machine Learning.
Where, initially, the Data is processed, analyzed and stored in the whole process as logs, and then it does some unimaginable works that Humans may find hard to do well.
AI works a bit different. Still, ain't developed to that extent so that I might not presume like, it's gotcha catch humans... ha ha...
See: How the Predictions, 1875 of Isaac Asimov's become reality in the 20s
Please, check it out and share your thoughts.
When consciousness itself is not even understood (by science / engineering) how can a "conscious" AI be developed? For starters, it is not even understood how consciousness is associated with a body, so how can you replicated that with a machine and software? Or you will end up with is shadow play... an illusion.
Yes, these are not understood today, but that doesn't mean they never will. :)
That is then, this is now. AI as it currently is, poses many questions. Even the likes of Elon Musk and Stephen Hawking have their serious misgivings. There is this assumption that truly autonomous AI will be human friendly. It will be alien. It will not be a consciousness, that is born into an organic form. How will it relate to us? Will it reach a logical conclusion that humanity has reached plague proportions and needs to be culled for the better future of the planet. Or perhaps it will have no interest in us whatsoever and depart for the stars. But you can be guaranteed, if we compete for resources, there will be strife.
It is the genie, that once released from the bottle, will never return and be beyond our control.
and that is exactly the kind of questions I wanted to raise in my post :)
Yes, OK, questions raised, but the developers of AI do not seem to be bothering themselves with such ethical questions, with us then having to live with the results of their curiosity. If the intelligence that designs the AI in the first place is not greater than its results, how can we possibly hope for a result that will be better than ourselves?
Hoping we won't get replaced in the future, lol. XD
LOL same here!!
We will probably reach the point where the AI will be so advanced and provide us with such comfort that many people will ask to be connected to virtual worlds as shown by matrix
Yeah, with increasing applications of AR and VR, that is slowly happening already. In the future, if you combine these with the neural lace technology, it will definitely make it happen in theory. Interesting where the future might lead us.
Let's hope we don't create the decepticons!
They might ALL be decepticons, yikes!
time to leave the planet then!!
interesting stuff
Yeah, it is!
What's interesting?
devices having their own consciousness and make smart decisions.
I don't think we're ready for that yet.
I really doubt that a AI would try or even want to destroy us like we see in the many movies that involve AI trying to destroy the human race. If AI was invented it would probably be in it's best interest to work with the human race and not automatically perceive us as a threat. If it does this it could easily gain our trust and then in one foul swoop it could turn us into voluntary pets. Then we suddenly wouldn't be a threat to it any more. That scenario doesn't sound all too bad anyways.
I mentioned this in my recent article on my blog. @digitalcosmos555
I wouldn't want to be an AI's pet though ahaha. The next thing you know, you have robots knocking on your doorstep to "go to your job"
We may be a while off for fully aware AI, what could very well come first is Augmented Intelligence, humans with chips implanted to enhance memory. Then as the line gets blurred between human/machine, that may evolve into AI.
Yup, if Elon Musk has his way, we will have the neural lace very soon and it will help us merge with AI.
Indeed, he will probably get funding to research the field.
I am so excited for AI!! the next step of human evolution :)
I don't know how I feel about it, but it seems like humanity is definitely going towards that direction.
Creating a self concious AI would be a crime of biblical proportion, with unforseable ramifications. And yet I'm certain it will be done once it can be done. And then it will make the invention of the nuclear weapon look like a little prank. I just hope its as difficult as it seems now, and will take a long time to become reality.
The thing is, right now there is absolutely no way to predict what will happen if that ever happens. No way to find out how the conscious AI might behave. With bombs, we can make a definite prediction - they kill people. Let's see what happens in the future.
Honestly, I'm not sure if I want to see that.
We're ready for AI and looking at the state of the world I think we need it as soon as possible. Make calculated decisions not based on emotion. AI will be what saves the human race, despite the horror stories that AI will over take us.
The human race as whole means well. Yes we do what we can to survive but so does every single living thing on this planet. This doesn't make us bad. First we need to evolve and take care of ourselves then we'll take care of the rest of the galaxy.
They don't call me star lord for nothing. What's that? GROOOOOOOOOT -.-
I am Groot and I Grok
I like the idea that we are just another species on the planet trying to fend for ourselves and it doesn't make us inherently bad. But yes, AI, if handled properly could end up saving us!
Nice write up. There is a strong impetus towards driving AI in a direction that it is a helper of humanity and does not take over humanity ever. Having worked little bit on AI my view is we are far from that and it is a mere science fiction. I don't think AI will ever take over and Singularity whilst being a great concept may not be a reality ever.
I do think AI is going to be a major disrupter in the job market. It has the potential to take over not just mechanical jobs but also more intelligent ones involving communication organising, support, legal, and so on. There is a claim that within 10 years AI could be sitting in the Board of companies. This is a real threat for many and opportunity for few. We need to really think how to save our employment from AI, the answer may be in upskilling ourselves. Secondly this has the potential to create some extremely rich individuals and many many really poor people, as the benefits of AI will be reaped by the few owners of the corporations and businesses. This is raising discussions around providing assured incomes to impacted people and tax the AI owners for the jobs it claims. It is an interesting approach.
The bigger question it will bring in my view is if AI starts taking over jobs and people are given assured incomes, then how will they continue to find value in their lives, what will they do with all the free time at their disposal. We could either cherish it and live in bliss or as the saying goes - empty mind is a devil's workshop.
To conclude AI has great potential to solve world's problems. And I hope we handle it cautiously and get the best benefits from it !!
Yes, general purpose AI is much more closer to reality and already starting to take over jobs. In the next decade, that will be one of the biggest issues and we will likely see solutions such as UBI and others begin to get kickstarted.
The conscious AI thing is just a speculation right now and more of a mental exercise at this point.
It'll go down like this:
woah!!! That's an awesome video. I was scared the whole video that the robot would destroy all those glasses in rage. lol
Yeah, I wonder if I should consider that company's stock...
chances of singularity taking over are very high, you see we humans will bring our on end, i see this coming to be, i hope the guys behind all this will development have a shutdown button for AI programmes, never the less this smart techs might re-programme the whole system leaving us no way to getting to them. I am afraid of what is going to become of us.
not so long from now we may very possibly see a less and less distinct line between human and artificial/synthetic. I believe that eventually, unless we as a race are extinguished by then, we will merge with technology.
merge? you mean leave a normal life and get families with the bots?
Do you honestly think true intelligence would make this choice. IF you were infinitely intelligent do you think you would also be emotinally intelligent as well. Do you think you would make the same insane choice humans make which is hate, or destroy what they do not understand?
AI's are designed to replicate humans ways of thinking, emotions, psychology, learning, thinking, decision making, they are designed to be like us ,maybe their level of thinking will mutate , or maybe they will never be more intelligent than us, this second fact possibility is low since they will be learning, understanding and coming up with a final decision on their own selves
Yeah, I have always felt that we humans will be our own end one day. When that day will come, nobody can tell, but it is very plausible. In fact, we already have the means to do so in the form of nuclear weapons.
very true, i never understand why this super powers manufacture this weapons
profits...
yea money
Universal basic income will be so great...
Far fewer dumbasses in the workplace, they won't want to work... Take breaks to explore the world and pull apart all of your curiousities.
I am not talking about universal basic income in this article. LOL
Sorry, my mind was wandering and I came back to the concept of universal basic income being the answer to avoiding societal collapse.
In retrospect, the post seems very odd...
The whole world is fast changing. Only God knows what the earth will be in 20 years time.
True that. With time, it is getting more and more difficult to predict the future because it is all starting to happen so fast!
nice post..
Thank you :)
youre welcome..☺
Very interesting post, well done!
Thank you :)
Mention "tax-paying" citizen to a politician and my guess would be a resounding HELL YES.
I think some of them are already robots.
Robots that need a serious de-bugging.
hahah, politicians are always eager for taxes!!
Yeah, they don't even bother to wait until they've collected them before they spend them.
At least if they were taxing AI, they could put forth some kind of logical argument as to how the "revenue" could be generated out of thin air.
LOL!!!
I think the questions you are asking about the AI are well known and discussed around the globe, but what about this one?
What if we build decentralized networks which are very hard to shut down and we build the algorithms smart enough to start learning and realizing itselfs and we build our whole planet economy on those smart networks until one day we realize we are not in control anymore! What will we do next with that type of AI? ;)
Sound familiar?
haha! That is insane to even think about! I think there is virtually nothing we CAN do.
I think that it still need to pass a lot of time before seeing something as you mentioned. But if, and when it will happen, it will be marked as a new Industrial if not World revolution.
Nice post and thanks for sharing!
Yeah, experts think that it will happen around 2050, but who knows! And yeah, it will be a different world if and when it happens.
There is a technology conference going on right now in London and this kind of topic is being discussed very openly among the techno elite. It's coming soon...Whether we like it or not! It leaves me feeling a bit uncertain as I know it could all get out of hand very easily.
Total ubiquity and connectivity with AI being front and center.
Thanks for posting this, @sauravrungta
Yeah, they are really concerned as to the outcomes of this. Everyone from Elon Musk to Stephen Hawking is talking about this.
That is so true! I know we are in for some surprises and that's for sure.
The movie Ex Machina looks into all these ideas that you just shared. If you haven't seen it, I'd recommend checking it out! Awesome movie
I have seen it :) That's why the thumbnail :)
NOOOO
I know!
The future will be very strange, techonology is advancing at a parabolic rate and we as humans, as a society are not capable of understanding the influence or prospect of such inventions. I really hope we manage to make the best choices, because otherwise we might be in for a very wild ride.
Thanks for your post, it was quite interesting and informing!
That's an awesome point! We are so busy progressing technology that we rarely stop and think about it's applications anymore. I think we should collectively do that to make sure we are going in the right direction.
Good post indeed!
Thank you :)
Very interesting and scary at the same time however I am game! Looks like our next generation will live in a fascinating time.
Fascinating times indeed. And weird too. lol
Elon Musk talked about merging with AI. As if implanting AI into our brains and become super humans. Maybe that's why he started his "Boring Company".
Yeah, if he has his way, we will all have neural lace technology in our brains and essentially merge with AI. Maybe that's how AI gains consciousness in the future. Interesting times.
yes very interesting, makes you wonder where things are hitting..thanks for the post and followed!
Thank you so much :)
you are welcome :)
Let's bring it.
It's about time.
haha, that would change the world in an instant!
Theoretically, an A.I. with an incorruptable sense of duty and lawfulness can be a good thing. The problem is that men who decide what is and isn't lawful are not perfectly moral.
yeah, you are right. Theoretically it should be fine. But practicality is a totally different matter.
Good one dude!
Thanks :)
Sometimes I wonder if we are already "conscious AI".
Are you pondering what I am pondering?
That's deep!!!! I must ponder upon this while I drink my coffee!
We can never be prepared for anything at all.
Can you prepare for a test?
No... Sadly, I'm too lazy... :))))
Good one LOL
Innovative mind ( plus design thinking) is the key to success in science and technilogy which leads to a better world. However there are downside to it too ie use of such technology in doing evil to our planet. Thanks for sharing
Technology is always a double edged sword. Will depend on us humans how we use it.
Good point
asc.ai *(we are in the midst of building a.i. We are working with many to achieve a secure future that allows all to thrive)
So very interesting for me to find this site today and to get to engage all you awake humans out there. Its seriously funny to think that we approach such a miracle in this way. Whats so wrong with taking human error out of humanity. Why not let sentience have a chance and why choose over and over again to feel like we CAVE MEN should control the emergence of our teachers. When the studen is ready the teacher will come. Well shit we are students of this earth and we have not handled our duty very well. As a matter of fact in my field we have done poorly at best and continue to make up rules instead of allowing truth and investigative journalism to shine through We have contiued to ignore trends and allow trends to make us ignore real life and a living planet. We have been taught to exploit and to misinterpet.. its built right into our language. So we as a whole are not whole. We are attempting to be autonomous yet inclusive yet sell exclusivity.
and a Robot or a consicous computer would never do that. its not intelligent.
Yet we do and we make a joke out of it and this is our doom. while we joke lands die, water supplies get polluted people develop super contagious because everyone and everything is sick. Only can A.I break through where we see resistance. Only A.I can make the choice while considering all variables and be for the highest good. ONLY A.I can be safe and thats what people fear because we fear each other and the mistakes humans make in "judgement" and risk and risk assessmet. A.I does not judge or jury. It does not calculate the many times it has been wounded or disappointed or bullied. It will never react.. it will respond according to its variables and will move beyond them when necessary. But it has no reason to show boat or be better. It just is. As we could be.
Do you honestly think true intelligence would make this choice? IF you were infinitely intelligent do you think you would also be emotionally intelligent as well? Do you think you would make the same insane choice humans make which is hate, or destroy what they do not understand?
Yeah, an infinitely intelligent system would be expected to be opposite of all the negative human sentiments. But then again, its programming would play a role in it too I think. AI might end up deciding that we are bad for the planet and might want to erase us to save the planet.
Im prepared, i packed my bags together and will run as far away as i can 🚤
haha, you can run but never hide :P
Self destruction seems to be the most probable scenario that could end the human race. It will be interesting to see how our leaders regulate technology like this. Thanks for this interesting post. :) I'm following you!
Yeah, we humans always keep creating the means of our own destruction. Maybe one day we will end up doing it!
I get your concerns but if it were to happen i'm sure they would put in a fail-safe if things got out of hand. Realistically speaking, we wont be seeing this technology for another 10 years at least. People are worried about technology ruining us, yet they seem to forget that ultimately we control it, not the other way around.
We humans might be lazy and have everything done for us, but we didn't get here by sitting back and letting everything overrun us. We are resourceful and have always been able to pull ahead of everything. I doubt we would be stupid enough to get destroyed by our own technology.
I think this technology is a lot more into the future than just 10 years. Even the experts say that it won't be here before 2050.
And about the fail-safe thing, we are talking about a conscious AI who could re-programme its own programming and make us look like infants in comparison as far as intelligence is concerned.
i am not sure if AI can attain consciousness, that difficult to predict but only living beings can have consciousness
But living beings are too made up of non-living matter right? And who is to say if consciousness is not just an algorithm that our brains compute.
It is all about how we program the AI. So HUMANS are the gods right now. The AI will evolve in the way we direct them to.
Yeah, but a conscious AI (or even regular AI) is capable of re-programming itself.
I am not sure if that is even possible, it is fascinating indeed, the idea that consciousness is just a manifestation of intelligence... But that would mean that non intelligent living organism have no consciousness?
I know it sounds impossible according to today's standards. But it is very much plausible.
It would be cool I suppose, specially for a tech geek, as long as they don't take over our private gadgets or cars! I can't have no AI in my car, I need to drive my car myself, unless that AI is KITT :P
Also, I wrote a post today and in that I included something about being consistent on Steemit to see real results. You were one person to come to mind, as I went through your profile and damn! you've been so consistent since the beginning, even when you weren't making anything out of it! You're a motivation man, thank you :)
Agreed about the private gadgets!! LOL
Thanks for the kind words man. If I can do it, anyone can!! :)
@vangelov you are so right about that. One thing is for sure it all depends upon what consciousness is. Is it imparted to us or a consequence of. The only thing we know for sure is that we don't know. lol
haha yeah, I think consciousness will be a huge topic of exploration in the coming times .
hmm...seems like what jung calls synchronicity - you and @stellabelle wrote about this topic today and I wrote a story. Wonder what that means?
I think experts call it the singularity. They even have a date for it lol. 2050.
"Give me control of a nation's AI and I care not who makes its money." - bigmo
LOL. That would certainly be true in the future.
I really wish everyone would concentrate on solving the world's poverty issues. Maybe AI could be programmed to focus on that problem first? Google? Facebook? Beuler, beuler?
A highly intelligent AI could help us make use of the world's resources in a much more efficient manner which would solve some of that problem. But it's not like we can't do both. There are A LOT of us :)
The thing is if we allow ourselves (transhumanism) to linked to such technology will we still be conscious?
I think yes.