Google exec warns AI will trigger ‘difficult episodes’

The rise of artificial intelligence will likely lead the world to ‘difficult episodes’ in the future, Google executive Ray Kurzweil warns – but, he says humanity will ultimately pull through.

At the Council on Foreign Relations this past weekend, Kurzweil addressed the evolving existential risks posed by technology, noting that great power often opens the door for ‘abuses.’

Progress in technology, however, will also allow humans to overcome some of the world’s biggest challenges, according to the futurist, providing solutions for everything from poverty to environmental decline.

 

The rise of artificial intelligence will likely lead the world to ‘difficult episodes’ in the future, Google executive Ray Kurzweil warns – but, he says humanity will ultimately pull through. He also says it will help humans overcome suffering. A still from Terminator Genisys is pictured

MACHINE BRAINS

The process began centuries ago with simple devices such as eyeglasses and ear trumpets that could dramatically improve human lives.

Then came better machines, such as hearing aids; and then machines that could save lives, including pacemakers and dialysis machines.

By the second decade of the 21st Century, we have become used to organs grown in laboratories, genetic surgery and designer babies.

In 2002, medical researchers used enzymes and DNA to build the first molecular computers, and in 2004 improved versions were being injected into people’s veins to fight cancer. 

If the trend continues Kurzweil believes carbon and silicon-based intelligence will merge to form a single global consciousness by 2029. 

In an interview with Wired Editor in Chief Nicholas Thompson at CFR, Kurzweil elaborated on his ‘optimistic’ views of AI and the future of humanity, arguing that ‘we have a moral imperative to continue progress in these technologies.’

According to Kurzweil, progress in AI will play a major role in helping humanity overcome worldwide suffering, including poverty, disease, and environmental degradation.

But, at the same time, he notes we must also ‘attend to the peril.’

‘We have new existential risks, these technologies are very powerful,’ Kurzweil said.

‘And so I do worry about that, even though I’m an optimist. And I’m optimistic that we’ll make it through – I’m not as optimistic that there won’t be difficult episodes.’

Kurzweil points to the example of World War II, explaining that powerful technology then posed an existential risk, too, exacerbating the losses.

‘I think it’s important, though, for people to recognize we are making progress,’ Kurzweil said in the interview.

In an interview with Wired Editor in Chief Nicholas Thompson at CFR, Kurzweil elaborated on his ¿optimistic¿ views of AI and the future of humanity, arguing that ¿we have a moral imperative to continue progress in these technologies.¿ Kurzweil is pictured at an event in May

In an interview with Wired Editor in Chief Nicholas Thompson at CFR, Kurzweil elaborated on his ‘optimistic’ views of AI and the future of humanity, arguing that ‘we have a moral imperative to continue progress in these technologies.’ Kurzweil is pictured at an event in May

The Google exec also further delved into his views on hybrid artificial intelligence, according to PJ Media, revealing how humans and machines could one day merge via a ‘neocortex connection,’ in which the brain taps directly into the cloud.

Doing this would connect humans with both computer systems and other humans’ neocortex, to make for a funnier, smarter, and more diverse population.

He also notes that 3D printing will soon lead to a number of benefits, as early as the 2020s, allowing for more advanced construction and infrastructure.

The claims follow Kurzweil’s previous predictions that technological singularity will turn us into super humans some time in the next 12 years.

Technological singularity will turn us into super humans some time in the next 12 years, according to a Google expert. Ray Kurzweil says future cyborg generations will be sexier, smarter and stronger 

Technological singularity will turn us into super humans some time in the next 12 years, according to a Google expert. Ray Kurzweil says future cyborg generations will be sexier, smarter and stronger 

Google’s Director of Engineering has made 147 predictions since the 1990s and has a success rate of 86 per cent.

And, earlier this year, Kurzweil explained that when we live in a cybernetic society we will have computers in our brains and machines will be smarter than human beings.

He claims this is already happening with technology – especially with our addiction to our phones – and says the next step is to wire this technology into our brains. 

‘By 2029, computers will have human-level intelligence,’ Kurzweil said at the South by Southwest (SXSW) conference in Austin, Texas, according to Futurism.

‘That leads to computers having human intelligence, our putting them inside our brains, connecting them to the cloud, expanding who we are. 

 

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk