An artificial superintelligence will enslave us or set us free.
Artificial superintelligence will be the fulfillment of our cosmic destiny, or it will never happen.
An artificial superintelligence will always be less than us, or it will be our next god.
Take your pick. There is an overwhelming smorgasbord of forecasts about the future of artificial intelligence (AI) from credible experts, brilliant philosophers, science-fiction writers, and random people with YouTube channels. It is difficult to think clearly about the emergence of true artificial intelligence because it would be historically unique and unprecedented. It also could happen this century, never, or ten minutes from now. Sure, we embrace or suffer through new technologies all the time. But AI is not an improved Acheulean hand-axe or the Wright Flyer. For better or worse, its appearance would be a pivotal turning point in the human story.
Darren McKee is one of those aforementioned credible experts. He’s an advisor to AIGS Canada (Artificial Intelligence Governance and Safety Canada) and the author of Uncontrollable: The Threat of Artificial Intelligence and the Race to Save the World. The book is riveting, comprehensive, thoroughly grounded in sound research—and scary. McKee advocates for rational caution and meaningful regulation as we seem to be speeding toward the big moment.
Guy Harrison: Describe how a true artificial superintelligence will be something new and different.
Darren Mckee: Think back to when you were a young child. Could you have imagined........