Computer scientists worry about machines smarter than man
Predator drones, like this one in Afghanistan, still need a human hand to work, at least for now. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems photo
Impressed and alarmed by advances in artificial intelligence, a group of computer scientists is debating whether there should be limits on research that might lead to loss of human control over computer-based systems that carry a growing share of society’s workload, from waging war to chatting with customers on the phone.
As examples, the scientists pointed to a number of technologies as diverse as computer worms and viruses that defy extermination and could thus be said to have reached a “cockroach” stage of machine intelligence to a new generation of Predator drones and other killing machines that could function without human control.
While the computer scientists agreed that we are a long way from Hal, the computer that took over the spaceship in 2001: A Space Odyssey, they said there was legitimate concern that technological progress would transform the work force by destroying a widening range of jobs, as well as force humans to learn to live with machines that increasingly copy human behaviors.
Click here for the New York Times story.
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