Week 12:Â The future of digital? Robots, self-driving cars, and artificial intelligence
Will the future ahead of us turn us into super humans, or give us robot best f ( r ) iends?
This idea isnât just a simple Sci-Fi plot. It could be a reality. With the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the development of bionics, robotic prosthetics and enhancements, electric cars and the advancement of self-driving cars - something like Futurama isnât far off the truth.
I watched a news program (which Iâve embedded below) about a New Zealand tech company that developed an exo-skeleton which gives disabled people and wheelchair bound people the ability to walk again.Â
As well as this, I also found a short video about Harvard University developing a bionic soft suit to help the military and the elderly walk and move around, while giving the ability to prevent serious injury.
It seems like a call back to Darwinâs theory on evolution, except instead of naturally evolving, we are forcing that trajectory into our own interests, needs (whether medical or not), and sense of convenience. There are many stories about bionic prosthetics out performing the original limbs of amputees. There is even a man in Sydney who installed an Opal travelling chip into his hand to make transporting around Sydney easier. (Dole, 2017)Â
With the benefit of extreme improvements to our human lives, there is always going to be extreme risks.
The late Stephen Hawking famously quoted that Artificial Intelligence could âspell the end of the human race.â Bill Gates and Elon Musk share similar opinions. Musk compared the idea of AI to the dictatorship of North Korea, if used without caution. Gates expressed that the good can outweigh the bad if managed properly. (Marr, 2018)
According to Hawking, he believed in the possibility that machines could âtake offâ on their own will. That once their AI develops enough they would find the ability to think for themselves, modify themselves and update their systems. In comparison to the slow biological sense of evolution in the human race, we would fall behind while our creation begins to dominate and take over. (Marr, 2018)
Our AI robots (or would they be considered creatures if they can evolve themselves?) might see themselves as the superior being and enslave the human race and history might repeat itself.Â
Perhaps we should take a page from Mary Shelleyâs gothic horror novel Frankenstein and proceed with extreme caution, as this pivotal moment in science can cause so much destruction.Â
Sources:
Marr, B. (2018) Is Artificial Intelligence Dangerous? 6 AI Risks Everyone Should Know About. Forbes. Retrieved from: https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2018/11/19/is-artificial-intelligence-dangerous-6-ai-risks-everyone-should-know-about/#5db0e0222404
Rutschman, A.S. (2018) Stephen Hawking warned about the perils of artificial intelligence â yet AI gave him a voice. The Conversation. Retrieved from: https://theconversation.com/stephen-hawking-warned-about-the-perils-of-artificial-intelligence-yet-ai-gave-him-a-voice-93416
Dole, N. (2017) Sydney man has Opal card implanted into hand to make catching public transport easier. ABC News. Retrieved from: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-06-27/sydney-bio-hacker-has-opal-travel-card-implanted-into-hand/8656174






