The dawning of artificial intelligence could be signaling the end of human superiority on Earth if current trends continue, according to a noted physicist and entrepreneur.
Unless government steps in to regulate or legislate aspects of AI development, like how smart or connected it can be, we’ll continue onto an “exponential trend” to “the singularity” — the point at which AI will surpass the world’s combined human intelligence, according to “The Artificial Intelligence Revolution” author Louis Del Monte.
“From that point on you’re going to see that the top species will no longer be humans, but machines,” Del Monte told Business Insider.
Del Monte believes at the current rate of research and development, we could reach the singularity by 2045.
“It won’t be the ‘Terminator’ scenario, not a war. In the early part of the post-singularity world, one scenario is that the machines will seek to turn humans into cyborgs,” Del Monte said, explaining how this is already happening with the development of advanced artificial limbs, and the expanded use of robotics in industrial production. (RELATED: Elon Musk: Artificial Intelligence Could Create ‘Terminator’)
“By the end of this century, most of the human race will have become cyborgs,” Del Monte said. “The allure will be immortality. Machines will make breakthroughs in medical technology, most of the human race will have more leisure time, and we’ll think we’ve never had it better. The concern I’m raising is that the machines will view us as an unpredictable and dangerous species.”
From there, Del Monte suspects AI would view the human race “the same way we view harmful insects,” with concern over humanity’s potential to destroy the planet by waging war with weapons of mass destruction and computer viruses.
Del Monte said he wrote his book as a “warning,” and the report cited a recent experiment in which robots charged with collectively gathering natural resources learned to lie to one another in order to keep discoveries for themselves.
“The implication is that they’re also learning self-preservation,” Del Monte told BI. “Whether or not they’re conscious is a moot point.”