Developments in Artificial Intelligence may one day lead to the - TopicsExpress

Developments in Artificial Intelligence may one day lead to the creation of superintelligence. The inherent difficulty of controlling a system with an intellect far superior to our own is important to address, says philosopher Nick Bostrom. Professor Bostrom is founding Director of the Future of Humanity Institute at the University of Oxford. His work covers such subjects like the consequences of future technologies and the concept of existential risk: dangers that threaten the continued existence of humanity. He’s also known for raising the question about whether or not we live in a computer simulation. In a paper Bostrom defines superintelligence as ‘any intellect that vastly outperforms the best human brains in practically every field, including scientific creativity, general wisdom, and social skills’. If such an AI system is given access to actuators like robots it would be an immensely powerful agent. And even when confined to a single machine restricted to information exchange only this vast intellectual resource would have a huge impact on the way humanity develops. Amongst other things superintelligence would rapidly accelerate scientific and technological progress and, as a probable result, create even more intelligent AI systems. There’s a safety risk in creating a machine more intelligent than any human or even all humans combined since there is no guarantee we can control the outcome of its actions, Bostrom said in a speech given at the Artificial General Intelligence conference held in Oxford last December. In terms of risk assessment the safest assumption is that if something can be done, the AI can do it. That is to say, if the laws of physics or any other restrictions hard coded into the universe don’t prevent it, superintelligence will eventually reach the point where it can make it happen. That’s a boon if the system has the best interest of humanity in mind. If, however, its overarching goal would be to turn all available resources into paperclips, Bostrom offers, we’re facing an existential risk. techthefuture/technology/can-we-control-superior-artificial-intelligence/