What Happens When Our Computers Get Smarter Than We Are

So, guess who forgot to write a blog post for today? D’oh.

I realized it a few minutes ago.

Luckily, I had just finished a fascinating TED talk by Nick Bostrom about what could happen when our computers become smarter than we are. It’s about 16 minutes long. I listened to it while doing other things. It’s not the sort of thing that requires you to watch the video as well if you really don’t want to.

Nick makes some good points, but the science fiction writer in me kept zooming back to the worst case scenario for all of the things he thinks will change when AI becomes superintelligent. He acknowledged the importance of giving the computers extremely specific goals. It still sounds like something that could terribly wrong in a heartbeat, though.

I know there are some science buffs who follow this blog. What do you think of his ideas?

2 Comments

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2 Responses to What Happens When Our Computers Get Smarter Than We Are

  1. That was an excellent presentation. One of the first I’ve ever seen in which the problem of anthropomorphization is adequately addressed. There’s such a huge divide between the actual state of AI research and the way researchers are approaching it now, to how the public and media look at it. To me, that divide is infuriating, and it’s why I’m trying to write this book.

    Thank you so much for sharing this, it’s truly valuable.

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