This question is a concern for many of us. You also might have seen movies like Transformer, Her, iRobot and Robot which seem quite realistic and fascinating. You will also find youtube videos discussing the domination of artificial intelligence and advancements in Machine Learning. A humanoid robot called Sophia had been granted the citizenship of Saudi Arabia, she also has a credit card of her own.
But, the reality is different. Neither you nor your successors are not going to see AI dominating the human race. Even if you do believe in it, I am going to break this myth.
To see a clear picture, you must understand how AI functions but before that let’s understand what is intelligence. As per the definition, intelligence is the ability to learn something and apply it to make your decisions. Let’s take an example to have a clearer picture. MS Dhoni is said to be one of the most intelligent cricketers. Why? Because he knows cricket well and makes the best decisions. This is natural intelligence. If any machine could do such a thing, we will call it artificial intelligence.
But wait a minute, machines can’t make decisions. So, how AI is developed.
Well! AI software is just a program that can recognize certain conditions and react accordingly.
Let me simplify this with the help of the example of a car with an automatic breaking system. Let’s say It applies breaks when it detects danger. So, how it will work. It must have sensors that can detect if there’s something around. If the car is heading towards any object or something is heading towards the car, it will apply breaks. Actually, the car never made a decision. It just did what it was designed for.
This was a very simple example. There are much more complex examples of AI devices like self-driving cars, martial arts robots, etc.
Now coming back to the matter of discussion, why AI can’t overpower humans and why a machine can’t make its own decision. Humans can make their own decisions because they have consciousness. For example, we may decide to move out and have a walk because we feel like doing so. It’s the consciousness that drives us.
That leads us to another question. If we can develop artificial intelligence, why can’t we develop artificial consciousness? It’s because we do not know where it comes from. Many philosophers and scientists have researched about it but they haven’t come to any conclusion. If we are not sure about the source of natural consciousness, how can we build an artificial one?
Now you may argue that there are humanoid robots like Sophia which is very intelligent, does she not have consciousness?
Let me tell you a fun fact. CNBC in 2017 revealed that when they invited Sophia for an interview, their owner, Hanson Robotics, gave them a script that had to be followed in the interview.
Just think about it, if a robot cannot answer a few questions asked from out of the script, how is it supposed to overpower humans.
So, the dominance of AI should not be a concern for the future. What the concern should be is the effects of AI on the job market and our data being misused.