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In a minuscule fraction of the length of our earth’s history, the brilliance of our minds has allowed us to take over the planet in a way never seen before. We have defied any and all odds to complete such tasks as reaching the moon and building a small tablet capable of holding all the world’s information. Our minds are wired to use logic to solve intricate problems all other species could not. How then, can we ever be challenged? Reading Neuromancer and following the news has significantly altered my opinion. AI development through machine learning has continued to grow steam, and the capabilities that they possess are starting to strike fear. Earlier this year, an AI programmed by Elon Musk beat out professionals in the complex PC game Dota 2 after just two weeks of machine learning. As Nick Bostrom points out at a TED convention, AI has the capabilities to reach exponentially higher levels of thought. Our brain is only so large, and a computer can be built to fill a vast room. Our neuron speeds can only travel so fast, but what if a computer can accelerate the speed of human-like thoughts? So when Case witnesses the combination of Wintermute and Neuromancer (what I like to call Big Brother 2.0) and it says to be “the sum total of the works, the whole show”, it becomes what Bostrom’s vision of what AI’s “final form” could actually entail. In fact, Bostrom unveils that scientists have claimed that by 2050, there is at least a 50% chance that AI meets or eclipses the thought capabilities of a human being. Depending on who creates this monster, it could be taught to either “stick electrodes into every human being to make them smile” or find the nth digit of pi. But the danger looks like it may exceed the helpfulness of artificial intelligence, and it seems to me personally that it may be inevitable that terrorist attacks, mind control, or human destruction will very well be a side effect. Whether the bulk of us likes it or not, someone will find a way to build the ultimate invention. #WintermuteIsComing
Sources:
Neuromancer by William Gibson