The future of AI

"This is how AI ROBOTS will take over the world - and why we need to stop [scientists] NOW" is how the headline reads at the Express, a British news website. And it does propose a reasonable theory on how artificial intelligence (AI) will surpass humankind.

But is this sensationalism accurate? Probably not.

Mind you, this isn't a denial that AI will surpass human intelligence. It should, and we should let it.

But we also shouldn't just sit idly by while it happens. At some point, we should adapt this intelligence for our own use. Somewhere between the Terminator and the Borg lies a positive human future.

Yesterday, I posted this quote:

"Our minds are finite, and yet even in these circumstances of finitude we are surrounded by possibilities that are infinite, and the purpose of human life is to grasp as much as we can out of the infinitude."--Alfred North Whitehead (1861-1947)

Therein lies our purpose, however out of reach it may seem. But if we can use technology to increase our grasp of the infinitude, doesn't that advance our purpose in life?

Admittedly, the Terminator possibility lies out there as a warning to us about letting our technology get too far ahead of us. And the Borg possibility reminds us not to let our own technology overwhelm our free will. But having super-intelligent AI while also being smart enough to control it, even as we remain in full control of ourselves, is a path to our ultimate goal.

God created man in His image. Now, man must create God in our image.

Or, as Peter O'Toole said in the 1985 movie Creator:

"...one of these days we'll look in to our microscope and find ourselves staring right into God's eyes, and the first one who blinks is going to lose his testicles."