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@Padraig Ó Murchú: This capability represents one of the pillars of true AI, an Artificial General Intelligence. One of the other pillars, Visual Artificial Intelligence, has also seen massive progress, in particular by the FSD team at Tesla.
Once a learning machine can see the world, can communicate with its creators then all that is truly left is a large enough dataset of labelled information for it to create its own contextual environment. We are terrifyingly close to this reality when we consider that, to date, there are no rules around the creation of such a machine.
There really needs to be. Very serious rules. Different “layers” of AGI on their own are not harmful, but when put together into a cohesive whole the power of such a machine cannot be understated simply because, from our vantage point, we cannot truly comprehend that level of intelligence. No more than an ape can understand spaceflight, the gap is simply too wide.
The desire behind AI for it’s creators, is as a limitless tool in their control with an off switch, the term God in a box is often used.
The arrival at singularity, or the point at which it exceeds human intelligence, is often and rightly pointed out as a threat to humanity, the potential for it to decide we threaten its existence.
But even if that doesn’t happen or if the safe guards contain it, other threats to life as we know it exist. Whoever controls it, rules the world, which global dictatorship would you like to live under? Pick a Nation or much more likely a Corporation, because omnipresent, omnipotent power doesn’t need to play nice or appeal to public opinion.
Another obvious threat, is someone involved in the development deciding they don’t like Monday’s and opening the box.
Sure, its great, but we are generations away from seeing any beneficial effects in everyday society. “The robots will take over” they say! Well I wish they would. we’ve been sat waiting at traffic-lights for over 150 years at this stage!
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