Could artificial intelligence take us over?

Answer 1

As an example:

We can see how 40 years ago we used to dream of having computers playing chess with us. Apart from the Deep Blue chess playing computer developed by IBM today my mobile has a Chess game with "Expert CPU Level".

So, as more and more powerful computers and intelligent algorithms are developed its inevitable that Artificial Intelligence will surpass human intelligence.

Answer 2

That is a hard one to answer.

As for A.I. taking over the world in this day and age, don't even worry about it. We're going to have to learn ALOT more about the human brain and its massively rapid and complex processing properties before we can come even close to imprinting that on microchips.

Even if we had the technology today to create a cybernetic or even organic processor like our brain (which, as far as I know, we don't), there is also the necessary ingredient for 'taking over the planet' that would be left out and that is the WILL to do so.

The only instance where something Terminator-like could possibly happen is if:

1) we have the cybernetic advances in technology to build brains that powerful

2) we build systems with self-preservation routines that outweighed the importance of human life preservation.

3) we built in the ability to learn not only empirically but instill real sensory comprehension. A computer needs to be "aware" that there is something other than circuitry and vague impulses from translated data in the greater universe.

There are also other factors but the 3 above are the root of the others. More so, to expand on point 3, our world would only be perceived as a platform for their communications grid. Very unlike how we see it, it has no real-estate value to computers except where it supports their means of communication.

In plainer words, there would be no interest in an advanced A.I. super cyberorganism to go all terminator on us unless it perceived us as a threat to that communications grid.

In that case, we'd pull the plug. Yes! I said pull the plug...

It's nice fiction to say that supercomputers could propagate themselves all over the planet into toasters and light bulbs but that's for the movies. Reality is that Einstein's thought process, knowledge and brilliance couldn't be transferred into a pigeon's brain and neither can hyper complex routines and data banks be transferred into a pocket calculator. This means that an advanced AI could only copy itself in a hardware framework identical or better than its own. Let's just say that the computer would be quite alot more than a Macbook or Thinkpad... That's really easy to pull the plug on very early in the world domination process as only one, perhaps two of these computers would exist...

And to suppose that the entire planet could act as a giant brain with every computer acting as a neuron is equally laughable. Not only would it become the slowest "brain" on the planet due to distance between the nodes but also the most vulnerable to attack.

Ask this question again in 100 years and the answer may be very different but the straight answer right now is "not in your lifetime..."

Don't lose any sleep over red-eyed skeletal robots invading your city ;)