Ray Kurzweil, a leading Google engineer and renowned futurist, spoke on Friday at a meeting of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). In his speech, he stressed that artificial intelligence (AI) will strengthen humanity, despite the possible "difficult moments."
Another approach
With all the talk about how AI can threaten our civilization - first by taking jobs, and then surpassing humans in intelligence and taking over the whole world - there are experts who believe that people should not be afraid of AI. Among them, the most famous are the director of engineering at Google and the technology "oracle" Ray Kurzweil. He keeps repeating that the "technological singularity" doesn't have to be so sinister.
Kurzweil took part in a discussion on the future of AI held by the CMO in Washington. While he agrees with Tesla CEO Elon Musk that superintelligent AI can introduce "existential risks," Kurzweil believes that humanity can deal with these "difficulties", if they arise at all.
He noted that scientific and technological progress always carries with it certain risks, and that AI should not be considered a relatively greater (or less) threat. “Technology has always been a double-edged sword. Fire warmed, cooked food - and burned homes. World War II killed 50 million and technology contributed a lot."
Regarding the displacement of workers by intelligent automata, Kurzweil echoed an argument he had previously made in an interview with Fortune magazine. He believes that as jobs are lost, new professions will emerge. What these professions will be - he does not know, because they have not yet been invented.
He reiterated his main thesis that AI will ultimately benefit, as has happened with new technologies in the past: “I believe AI will not supplant us. He will complement us. He's already doing it."
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Life in the world of machines
Kurzweil does not believe that the Singularity, if it happens, will look like a seizure of power by machines. He sees the future rather as coexistence, when machines enhance human abilities. He predicts the emergence of hybrid AI by the 2030s - hybrid AI will allow the brain to connect directly to the computing cloud using a "neocortex" connection. Previously, he predicted that the enhancement of human abilities will be provided by nanobots that will circulate in our body by the 2030s.
In a nutshell, according to Kurzweil, as a result of the singularity and the development of AI, a fusion of man and machine will occur. The expert notes that this is already happening with smartphones, which he called "brain expander". He explained: “I want to say - who can now do their job without the use of these“expanders”? And so it will continue in the future."
Kurzweil added that, in addition to connecting the brain to a cloud computing machine, this neocortex technology will also allow a person to connect to another person's neocortex. As a result, people will become smarter and more interesting. The technological singularity, he argues, will diversify thought activity and contribute to a deeper penetration into various intellectual areas.
Thus, instead of making us "obsolete", machines, as they develop, will make humans smarter. Let's hope this prediction is correct.
Sergey Lukavsky