Scientists Worry Machines May Outsmart Man

[dejr_8]

Something to think about


http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/26/science/26robot.html?_r=2&hp

A robot that can open doors and find electrical outlets to recharge itself. Computer viruses that no one can stop. Predator drones, which, though still controlled remotely by humans, come close to a machine that can kill autonomously.

Impressed and alarmed by advances in artificial intelligence, a group of computer scientists is debating whether there should be limits on research that might lead to loss of human control over computer-based systems that carry a growing share of society’s workload, from waging war to chatting with customers on the phone.

Their concern is that further advances could create profound social disruptions and even have dangerous consequences.

As examples, the scientists pointed to a number of technologies as diverse as experimental medical systems that interact with patients to simulate empathy, and computer worms and viruses that defy extermination and could thus be said to have reached a “cockroach” stage of machine intelligence.

While the computer scientists agreed that we are a long way from Hal, the computer that took over the spaceship in “2001: A Space Odyssey,” they said there was legitimate concern that technological progress would transform the work force by destroying a widening range of jobs, as well as force humans to learn to live with machines that increasingly copy human behaviors.

The researchers — leading computer scientists, artificial intelligence researchers and roboticists who met at the Asilomar Conference Grounds on Monterey Bay in California — generally discounted the possibility of highly centralized superintelligences and the idea that intelligence might spring spontaneously from the Internet. But they agreed that robots that can kill autonomously are either already here or will be soon.

They focused particular attention on the specter that criminals could exploit artificial intelligence systems as soon as they were developed. What could a criminal do with a speech synthesis system that could masquerade as a human being? What happens if artificial intelligence technology is used to mine personal information from smart phones?

The researchers also discussed possible threats to human jobs, like self-driving cars, software-based personal assistants and service robots in the home. Just last month, a service robot developed by Willow Garage in Silicon Valley proved it could navigate the real world.

A report from the conference, which took place in private on Feb. 25, is to be issued later this year. Some attendees discussed the meeting for the first time with other scientists this month and in interviews.

The conference was organized by the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence, and in choosing Asilomar for the discussions, the group purposefully evoked a landmark event in the history of science. In 1975, the world’s leading biologists also met at Asilomar to discuss the new ability to reshape life by swapping genetic material among organisms. Concerned about possible biohazards and ethical questions, scientists had halted certain experiments. The conference led to guidelines for recombinant DNA research, enabling experimentation to continue.

article continues

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Ah my VERY favorite topic.

Now OP, the article is very basic with the gloom and doom. I mean this kind of thinking has been going on forever. It is 2 steps away from proclaiming that we live in the Matrix.

The article doesn't mention the postive of TECHNOLOGICAL SINGULARITY.

Curing disease, cracking the DNA codes to engineer out diseases, developing alternate energy, lightspeed, etc...

 

[luvmy3]

Maybe these scientists should stop renting I Robot.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Maybe these scientists should stop renting I Robot.

You do not even have to have technology to destroy humanity. I would consider the discussion to be tunnel vision.

As human it is part of our nature to advance. We will reap what we sow so to speak however we will reap what we sow no matter what the circumstance, with technology or the absence of it.

It is just the timeline moving forward, necessary evil, fate, prophecy, soylent green, or whatever label you put on our progression into the future.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

After looking into the articles of John Markoff, have to say that he is interesting read.

Here is a snippet of an article of his, which discusses my favorite topic of Singularity.

The concept of ultrasmart computers — machines with “greater than human intelligence” — was dubbed “The Singularity” in a 1993 paper by the computer scientist and science fiction writer Vernor Vinge. He argued that the acceleration of technological progress had led to “the edge of change comparable to the rise of human life on Earth.” This thesis has long struck a chord here in Silicon Valley.

Artificial intelligence is already used to automate and replace some human functions with computer-driven machines. These machines can see and hear, respond to questions, learn, draw inferences and solve problems. But for the Singulatarians, A.I. refers to machines that will be both self-aware and superhuman in their intelligence, and capable of designing better computers and robots faster than humans can today. Such a shift, they say, would lead to a vast acceleration in technological improvements of all kinds.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/24/weekinreview/24markoff.html

 

[The Mystery Machine]

OP, I am going to be talking to myself? I guess you were literal when you meant something think about.

 

[dejr_8]

OP, I am going to be talking to myself? I guess you were literal when you meant something think about.

Nope, I've been busy prepping dinner.

It is something to think about. We are closing in on events similar to the beginning of Terminator.

I've always thought that eventually Computers will be better at diagnosing diseases than human physicians. I believe now there are computer programs that review mammograms with better accuracy than humans.

We have the robot assisted surgery. How long until it is just a robot doing the surgery?

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Nope, I've been busy prepping dinner.

It is something to think about. We are closing in on events similar to the beginning of Terminator.

I've always thought that eventually Computers will be better at diagnosing diseases than human physicians. I believe now there are computer programs that review mammograms with better accuracy than humans.

We have the robot assisted surgery. How long until it is just a robot doing the surgery?

I believe that we are still far off from a "Terminator"-type situation. I don't know if computers will be able to totally figure out humans. We adapt. So that is where "Singularity" fits in and making a cybernetic organism instead of a 100% computer will be preferred as the supercomputer.

My reasons for thinking this way is because we are not cohesive with bringing it about face. In addition we have yet to develop alternate energy which is really the "missing link". It is like the theory of evolution.
Who, what, when will make that discovery?

We are in a catch-22, stagnant, with our ability to make that technological leap.

As a human race we have to coexist based on the ramifications of our advances and that moves at a snail's pace sometimes to the point of madness. (I could reference "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" and the creatures that have to have everything signed and documented before making a move.)

So in the interim, we discuss ethics as we should and speculate through discussion, movies, and books.

It is my favorite topic. Sorry to bore you. I do like discussing it.

 

[GRUMPY PIRATE]

judging by some of the people we see at the parks, I would say it was too late.