Artifical intelligence seems to be everywhere in this day and age: driving our cars, powering our smartphones and even stocking our fridges.  It might also be on your mind if, like many, you share concerns about the future of advanced, super-intelligent, 'general AI'. And if not, it probably should be.

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AI is advancing rapidly, and it is looking very likely that within a century we will have the ability to create machines that are far smarter and more capable than humans, not just at controlling cars and playing chess, but in almost every aspect imaginable. How will these super-intelligent, self-improving algorithms be put to use in society? Might they pose a threat to human life? Could we ever outsmart something that is truly smarter than us?

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To help answer these questions and understand the issues surrounding this topic, here is a compilation of AI-related articles, touching on concepts intriguing, informative and, at times, unimaginable. If you’re left feeling a little confused and confounded, it’s worth bearing in mind that no-one has the answers yet, and predictions about AI, like many throughout history, may turn out incorrect. Nevertheless, thinking about these problems certainly won’t make them worse.

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 1. Benefits & risks of artificial intelligence – Future of Life Institute  

 

The Future of Life Institute is a great place to start for an introduction into AI or to refresh your understanding of the fundamentals. The institute is a volunteer-led research and outreach group whose primary aim is to mitigate existential risks facing humanity, with a primary focus on artificial intelligence. This feature describes the benefits and risks of AI, discussing some of the common AI-related myths and how super-intelligent machines might pose a danger to humanity in the future.

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“Everything we love about civilisation is a product of intelligence, so amplifying our human intelligence with artificial intelligence has the potential of helping civilisation flourish like never before – as long as we manage to keep the technology beneficial.” 

 

Max Tegmark, Professor of Physics, MIT & Founder, Future of Life Institute

 

 

 2. Can we build AI without losing control over it? – Sam Harris 

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This list wouldn’t be complete without a TED talk, and this one grasped our attention more than most. “Scared of superintelligent AI?” You should be, says neuroscientist and philosopher Sam Harris – and not just in some theoretical way. We’re going to build superhuman machines, says Harris, but we haven’t yet grappled with the problems associated with creating something that may treat us the way we treat ants.

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Although Harris isn't a computer scientist by training, but as a philosopher and of advocate for rational, public thought, he raises some alarming points related to the ethical issues we will have to face as these technologies continue to be advanced.

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 3. "What do you think about machines that think?" – Edge Annual Question 2015 

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The Edge Foundation (link here) is an association of science and technology intellectuals created to explore the topics on the “the edge of the world’s knowledge”. Each year it runs a feature called the Annual Question, inviting its members to write a short essay or response to a topical question. In 2015 the question was directed towards AI: “What do you think about machines that think?”.

 

There were almost 200 individual responses from leaders in science and philosophy, sparking some fascinating ideas, debates and controversies. Many are brief and well worth reading, although be sure to check out Daniel Dennett’s and Steven Pinker’s contributions for some different perspectives to the articles above.

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4. A few interesting media articles: 

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Courts are using AI to sentence criminals. That must stop now  by Jason Tashea, WIRED Magazine  — Artificial intelligence gone awry.

 

Concerns of an artificial intelligence pioneer by Natalie Walchover, Quanta Magazine — If an AI pioneer is concerned, should we be too?

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Artificial Intelligence is not a threat... yet  by Michael Shermer, Scientific American

 

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