It is hard to write about apocalyptic doom ‘n’ gloom on a nice sunny Melbourne day like this, but I suppose, the sunshine will soon be chanced away, for as they say on that horrible TV show, Game of Groans, “winter is coming”:
https://www.livescience.com/62239-elon-musk-immortal-artificial-intelligence-dictator.html#?utm_source=ls-newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=04082018-ls
“We are rapidly headed toward digital superintelligence that far exceeds any human, I think it’s pretty obvious,” Musk said in a new AI documentary called “Do You Trust This Computer?” directed by Chris Paine (who interviewed Musk previously for the documentary “Who Killed The Electric Car?”). “If one company or a small group of people manages to develop godlike digital super-intelligence, they could take over the world.” Humans have tried to take over the world before. However, an authoritarian AI would have one terrible advantage over like-minded humans, Musk said.
“At least when there’s an evil dictator, that human is going to die,” Musk added. “But for an AI there would be no death. It would live forever, and then you’d have an immortal dictator, from which we could never escape.” And, this hypothetical AI-dictator wouldn’t even have to be evil to pose a threat to humans, Musk added. All it has to be is determined. “If AI has a goal and humanity just happens to be in the way, it will destroy humanity as a matter of course without even thinking about it. No hard feelings,” Musk said. “It’s just like, if we’re building a road, and an anthill happens to be in the way. We don’t hate ants, we’re just building a road. So, goodbye, anthill.”
That seems to me to be an excellent argument for moving fast to regulate AI research. But, the Dr Frankenstein’s out there in techno-land, egged on by the money power elite who fund them, will continue to dig our, and their graves, so long as they get the next research grant and dose of ego enrichment. That is the story of the universities.