Is AI Advancing Too Fast?
I remember the first time I heard about Sophia, the Robot. An artificial intelligence being, Sophia has become more and more sophisticated over time, both in terms of the software that makes her function and her physical presence.
Dr. Ben Goertzel, the CEO of SingularityNET and creator of Sophia, is often found speaking at events which show off Sophia’s abilities. I must confess, Dr. Goertzel appears as one might expect a “mad scientist” to look. John Lennon-like glasses, very long hair and a hippie vibe, I don’t believe he is “mad”. But he is certainly brilliant.
When I saw Sophia engaging with his creator, and then once I had the chance to speak with Sophia myself, I recall having one primary thought.
In a future where Sophia becomes self-aware and independent, Dr. Ben will be the first to die at the hands of his creation.
Of course, you may assume that my thought is little more than musings from having been fed a steady diet of dystopian future films and television shows.
But the reality of how quickly AI is advancing is already giving pause to many in the technology community and governments.
With AI providing people the opportunity to create images and video of situations that never happened and audio of words that were never spoken, the risk of technology being used against individuals, businesses, corporations and governments is a very real and present danger.
In fact, it’s just a matter of time that the collision of the current mob rule mentality and deepfakes end up causing significant damage to someone. Whether it’s a celebrity caught in the crossfire of an affair that never took place or a politician seeming to be caught saying something on a recording that never actually happened, we live in a “shoot first, ask questions later” social media culture.
The idea that a scandal MAY have taken place is enough for the masses to publicly scorn, shame and “cancel” someone, regardless of the truth.
It’s going to happen. And probably sooner than we think.
Is the world of artificial intelligence moving too quickly for our society to place guardrails?
I say yes. It most certainly is. Pandora’s box has been opened. The genie has been let out of the bottle. And whatever other metaphor you feel like using can be inserted here.
There’s no stopping it at this point. It seems like updates and advances in AI tech are happening weekly. And these aren’t small steps. Each bit of breaking news has the community saying “we can do WHAT?!?”
At the same time, it’s truly fascinating stuff. I love playing with the various tools and exploring how I can use them in my business and life.
By the looks of the numbers we are seeing on our new Bad AI Show, it appears the public is hungry to learn more as well.
I don’t mean to be a pessimist. I’m hopeful that individuals, organizations and governments will seek to leverage AI for good. But I’m also a realist. The fact is, there are some truly horrible people out there. And those people without a moral compass will use AI destructively.
May the good we do far outweigh the negative consequences of the technology advancing so quickly. And I hope Sophia never turns on Dr. Ben.
What are your thoughts? Please comment below and let me know!
