Hollywood films and science fiction literature postulate artificial intelligence as dangerous under certain conditions such as over-reliance and the removal of the “human” element. But, the same can be said for our purposes with the technology. How are we going to TRULY use this technology to make our lives better. Immortality, Love, or just plain laziness?
Asimov’s laws of robotics state that :
- A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
- A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
- A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.
And the overaching rule
- A robot may not harm humanity, or, by inaction, allow humanity to come to harm.
Bill Gates and Elon Musk have both voiced concerns about the future of our growing technology.
“First the machines will do a lot of jobs for us and not be super intelligent. That should be positive if we manage it well……A few decades after that though the intelligence is strong enough to be a concern. I agree with Elon Musk and some others on this and don’t understand why some people are not concerned.” –Bill Gates on Reddit.
“With artificial intelligence we’re summoning the demon. You know those stories where there’s the guy with the pentagram, and the holy water, and … he’s sure he can control the demon? Doesn’t work out.” – Elon Musk on BBC
But to be fair to the robots and prototypes, we are still pretty terrible when this becomes our first form of interaction with technology. The robots are currently being used for military applications, but like all technologies; they will eventually become a part of the home similar to Phillip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep.
Here is a full video featuring the DARPA Military Robots so you can decide for yourself:
