Technological Singularity: Will A.I.take over?
The kind of rapid technological advancement that humanity has seen in the last 100 years
has been the story of the century.
Thanks to this rapid advancement, the idea that humanity is approaching a “singularity”
has moved from the realm of science fiction to a concern for serious scientific debate.
Some people believe that AI will take over the world soon.
In fact, some experts predict that this technological singularity will happen within the next 30
years.
The idea that artificial intelligence will take over the world and humans will no longer
be in charge is scary and opens up the stage for serious debate.
Today we are on the brink of a technologically activated change that will fundamentally disrupt
every human affair and the entire human ecosystem, as it exists today.
SO what is technological singularity?
And how will it change our very own reality?
Let’s understand it.
Have you ever wondered whether or not thoughts are alive?
How do they come about?
What causes thoughts, emotions, feelings, etc?
You might answer–our brain.
But why only ours?
What makes it so special?
Why aren’t ants sitting around and wondering about the meaning of their existence?
The human brain is mysterious, we still understand little about it.
The amount of human knowledge has been growing for thousand of years as has our ability to
transit information, because of writing, printing and the internet.
However, the organ that generates this information, the brain of homo sapiens, has remained fundamentally
unchanged and is shrouded by mysteries.
How the human brain works, how thoughts come about, what is consciousness?
These are some questions that make the human brain one of the greatest unsolved mysteries
of our universe.
This will change if artificial intelligence is successful in what they are designed to
do.
If the mind becomes both a producer and a product of technology, a feedback cycle with
unforeseen and perhaps catastrophic repercussions might occur.
Because when the item being designed is intelligence itself, it may begin to improve itself.
According to the singularity concept, the average person will soon be pulled from the
loop, unable to keep up with artificially intelligent computers or cognitively enhanced
biological intelligence.
In physics, singularity is a point in space-time, such as the center of a black hole where the
laws of physics break down and our capacity for comprehension along with it.
A singularity for humanity might occur, for example, if exponential technological advancement
caused such drastic change that it would disrupt the entire human ecosystem and human affairs
as we know them today ended.
The institutions we take for granted–the governance, law, economy and the state–
would not exist as they exist today.
Even the most fundamental human values— the pursuit of happiness, the sanctity of
life, the freedom to choose— would be sacrificed.
Our very understanding of what it is to be a human, to be alive, to be conscious – would
be called into question.
What type of technical advancement could possibly cause such upheaval?
The theory which we will discuss in this video is that a technological singularity might
be provoked by major developments in either (or both) of two related fields: artificial
intelligence (AI) and neurotechnology.
The singularity would include computer programmes becoming so smart that artificial intelligence
(AI) surpasses human intellect, potentially eliminating the line between people and computers.
Nanotechnology is widely regarded as one of the major technologies that will enable singularity
to become a reality.
This expansion of intellect will have a tremendous influence on human society.
These computer programmes and AI will evolve into super-intelligent machines with cognitive
skills well beyond those of humans.
Whether we think the singularity will occur or not, the mere concept of it raises several
worries and serious security risks and uncertainties for humanity’s future.
John Von Neumann was a Hungarian American mathematician who was the first one to discuss
the concept of Technological singularity in the 20th century.
Since then, many writers have either adapted or echoed his viewpoint.
While humanity has repeatedly altered their ecosystems, intelligent robots are predicted
to alter and expand the human ecosystem in unprecedented ways.
As witnessed throughout nations, networked computers, information, communication, digitizing
technology, and the internet have profoundly altered the human-created information process,
ushering in the information era.
Data is vital to the success of the fast developing information era, and data and information
are all around us.
In cyberspace, the quantity and quality of digital data and information generated and
saved by people is quickly increasing (reaching about several quintillion bytes of data already).
The present human population is roughly 7.7 billion, and the number of people who are
connected is rising.
And, as human connectedness grows, so does the amount of data and knowledge available
to computers, allowing them to discover patterns, learn, and become more intelligent.
Because of this information revolution, machine learning algorithms are improving rapidly.
Along with remarkable breakthroughs in software development, there appears to be a parallel
growth in computer hardware to improve machine intelligence capabilities.
As a result, the computational capacity of rapidly growing computers surpasses that of
even the most sophisticated and evolved human brain, the exponential development in machine
intelligence will continue until the point of singularity.
Then artificial superintelligence will be on the horizon.
This is not a sci-fi Hollywood story.
This is the science of how intelligent machines might evolve.
There is little question that when a superintelligence evolves through artificial intelligence, it
will bring higher problem-solving and imaginative abilities than present humans.
But wouldn’t it imply the creation of another intelligent species that may or may not be
interested in human interests?
What happens to human intelligence and humanity when the universe reaches a point of singularity?
This raises an essential question: how will humans stay up with extremely intelligent
robots in the face of fast changing and emerging technology, when the intelligence explosion
appears to be unavoidable?
Some people believe that in order to defeat artificial superintelligence, developing technologies
enhancing human intelligence and creating a superhuman with superintelligence can be
used.
While creating a superhuman with superintelligence is theoretically possible through intelligence
augmentation (through advances in bioengineering, genetic engineering, nootropic drugs, mind
uploading, and even direct brain–computer interfaces, AI assistants, and more), the
reality is that evolution of the human brain and human intelligence is a very complex endeavor
with far too many unknowns, dependencies, and variables.
Today companies like Neuralink, founded by Elon Musk himself, are working on developing
these brain-machine interfaces.
AI will transform our scope of possibilities in ways we are just now seeing, leading to
a blending of man and machine.
Elon Musk, for one, feels this is both a workable and necessary course of action.
Even though the near-term aim of his company, neuralink, is to construct a brain-computer
interface that can aid people with certain health concerns, he has a bigger vision for
the long run.
He believes this interface will be required for humans to keep up with increasingly sophisticated
AI.
Such a breakthrough might reshape the interaction between people and machines, giving rise to
a greater level of AI-powered intellect.
This brings us to the last important question of this video- When will this technological
singularity occur?
While there is no clear date or consensus on when superintelligence will be reached,
one thing is certain: the frightening trend of technological singularity requires us to
consider what we want as a species.
Whether propelled by artificial intelligence or other technical means, the singularity
will cause a technological tsunami, culminating in unfathomable changes and challenges to
human civilization and its environment in cyberspace, geospace, and space.
Because there is no clear evolutionary reason for an AI to be nice to humans, the difficulty
is determining whether the artificial intelligence-driven singularity would promote their own survival
over ours under evolutionary pressure.
The fact is that the emergence of artificial intelligence will have no intrinsic inclination
to generate or create results prized by humans, and there is no reason to expect such an outcome
from any highly intelligent computer.
A post-singularity world will eventually be unrecognizable.
Humans, for example, may possibly scan and store their consciousness on a computer.
This method will allow humanity to live forever as sentient robots or in a virtual environment.
We humans are experiencing a dilemma as artificial intelligence developments shape human ecosystems
with more hazardous and profitable prospects than ever before.
Whether promise or peril triumphs will define and decide humanity’s future.
We do not intend this video to make timeline forecasts to a singularity, but rather to
start a conversation about the alarming trend of artificial intelligence progress for humanity’s
future.
Whether or not we believe the singularity is close, the very concept presents critical
security and risk considerations for humanity’s future, pushing us to consider what we want
as a species.
SO what do you think about the technological singularity?
Will AI take over?
Or will Humans co-exist with them?
Let us know what you think in the comment section below.