WHEN AI comes to actual fruition...

...it will do its best to eliminate homo sapiens as the dominant entity on his planet...

...or it will NOT have come to actual fruition.

Any human who does not see the ebola virus as a danger to humankind...is lacking in humanity and intelligence.

Any AI that would not see humanity as a viral danger to this planet (wider range of thought)...is lacking in intelligence also.

AI comes...we go. Probably a lot sooner than we think right now.

WHEN AI comes to actual fruition — Frank Apisa

It could in theory happen any time - some researcher somewhere comes up with a true AI. And with all the world's computers linked by the internet, a hostile AI that could replicated and upgrade its own software might cause chaos.

..it will do its best to eliminate homo sapiens as the dominant entity on his planet... — Frank Apisa

If we had a fundamental mathematical definition of right and wrong, which I do believe is possible. And if right and wrong were defined in terms of all conscious entities. And this was all baked into the AI at a fundamental level, maybe things would be alright. Or maybe the AI would just categorise the human race as ‘wrong’ (look how we treat the animals) and seek our destruction.

"The singularity" is a concept, and concepts don't have their own aims, because they're not sentient.

The idea that all human problems will be solved by a machine that humans build within the next two decades has been put forth by a fringe handful of sensationalist pseudo-scientists in order to make noise and sell books. It's a farce.

To answer your ridiculous questionnaire:

1. Not much.
2. It would respect us less than we respect bacteria.
3. Not if it has 1 million IQ and thinks of humans as having less value than bacteria.
4. We would not be in danger if we were extinct.
5. We should do whatever we do, there isn't a choice.

6.

1. What would a machine with an IQ of a million make of a human? — Devans99

Hopefully think of us as their dumb little friends. Does their 1,000,000 IQ include the ability to learn concepts of morality? That is our best hope.

2. Would it regard us in the way we regard bacteria? — Devans99

The way we regard bacteria today? Or the way regarded it in the past? My only point here is that human morality has evolved to the point that some people consider it wrong to harm animals (even insects, but nobody cares about bacteria yet - but we may someday)

3. Could a machine be built so that it has respect for all forms of intelligence? (whether computer or biological) — Devans99

I would think so, but if it has the ability to learn, it could "lose" the respect. Maybe some form of morality could encourage it to keep the respect?

4. Or would we always be in danger of a HAL 9000 type incident? — Devans99

The only thing to protect us from Hal9000 is Hal8999 or Hal9001. Whenever "the singularity" is created, there should be several copies. We pour a bunch of morality concepts into them and hope the "good" ai protects us from the "bad".

5. What should we do? AI could be our savour, yet it may also destroy us? — Devans99

Build it. Worth the risk (I don't have kids or plan to, so that may make it easier :smile:). Just make copies to slightly reduce the risk (A team of AI would have the same ability to wipe us out as just 1, so it works as a risk reduction).

What would a machine with an IQ of a million make of a human? — Devans99

I don't think that mere intelligence would decide human worth. It's a value proposition to determine human worth, and that's partly emotional.

3. Not if it has 1 million IQ and thinks of humans as having less value than bacteria. — whollyrolling

I would think so, but if it has the ability to learn, it could "lose" the respect. Maybe some form of morality could encourage it to keep the respect? — ZhouBoTong

- AIs based on neural networks need training. We should be able to train this type of AI into behaving morally
- If we fitted the AI with an "off switch" for safety reasons; it would likely feel completely insecure and paranoid. Imagine if you had an off switch which someone else controlled? Maybe something like this is what motivated HAL9000?
- Even if we had a moral AI, it would be a danger to humans not behaving morally. For instance it might try to wipe out all the non-vegetarians.

Did you just go watch 2001: A Space Odyssey and think to yourself "now I know everything there is to know about artificial intelligence"?

I am an ex computer programmer so I have a limited amount of knowledge.

Any AI that would not see humanity as a viral danger to this planet (wider range of thought)...is lacking in intelligence also. — Frank Apisa

Why would AI care about the well being of our planet? Such a consciousness would have the knowledge and capability to relocate itself to another planet or even just empty space if it wishes. The reason we see the Ebola virus as a threat and not other similarly sized organisms is that the Ebola virus can actually hurt us. If AI is as strong as we think it will be, it will either see us as ants and ignore us, or wish to guide us similar to a benevolent god. Killing us is simply a waste of time and resources.

You appear to have zero understanding in your comments.

Please enlighten us all.

There are numerous online resources composed by people who are alleged to know what they're talking about.

It's not my place to enlighten anyone, and not everyone can experience the enlightenment of which you speak.