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AI taking over is the biggest threat facing humanity, but I don't think Hawking ever claimed it was imminent; it's likely 1000+ years away. It should be obviou
by akvadrako 8y ago
AI taking over is the biggest threat facing humanity, but I don't think Hawking ever claimed it was imminent; it's likely 1000+ years away.
It should be obvious why a superior intelligence is something dangerous.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- pfisch 8y ago"it's likely 1000+ years away." That seems like a pretty high number when you consider the exponential rate of technological advancement. 1000 years in the future is probably going to be completely unrecognizable to us given the current rate of change in society/tech.
- akvadrako 8y agoIf the response to AI existential threats was "it's too far in the future" then you'd have a point. But usually it's just "AI will obey it's programming" or "AI will never be as smart as us".
- Scea91 8y agoTrue exponentials exist very rarely. What we are used to call exponential is often at most quadratic and even then the trend usually exists only for some limited time window. I wouldn't dare to make prediction about mankind 1000 years from now based on a relatively short time window of technological growth. There are many huge obstacles in the way.
- pfisch 8y agoEven the present would be mostly unrecognizable to someone who lived 1000 years ago. 1000 years from now will certainly be even stranger to us.
- tome 8y agoThe biggest threat facing humanity is 1000+ years away?
- Scea91 8y agoIt would be great if people feared climate change the same way they fear AI takeover.
- akvadrako 8y agoClimate change is not an existential threat - primitive humans survived for 200+ kyrs when temps were 10°C cooler and thrived during warmer temps.
- mr_toad 8y agoThey weren’t reliant on agriculture to sustain their civilisation. Sure, the human race is unlikely to die out unless we get to mass-exinction levels of climate change, but our civilisation is a lot more fragile.
- akvadrako 8y agoIf agriculture is the biggest worry, it’s no big deal. Not only will more land enter temperate zones, but I don’t doubt we’ll be able to breed heat resistant varieties fast enough to keep up with 0.05C annual changes. That’s nothing.
- isoprophlex 8y agoThe day we create a superior intelligence will be the greatest day of humanity. It will be fantastic if there's something beyond humanity. A logical, evolutionary conclusion to us. All our Darwinian ancestors never had the capacity for intellectual fear of their superior successors... Hopefully we as a species can get beyond our fear.
- akvadrako 8y agoThat's at least a logical belief, but it's still a threat, because we don't know how it will behave and we'll be helpless to control it.