Speaker 1: Some say artificial intelligence will transform our planet. Vladimir Putant
Speaker 1: says harnessing AI is the path to ruling it. I'm
Speaker 1: John and Strickland, and this is tech stuff daily. Artificial
Speaker 1: intelligence is a hot topic of discussion. While it might
Speaker 1: conjure up thoughts of humanlike robots or super intelligent machines,
Speaker 1: the term artificial intelligence is actually a really broad one.
Speaker 1: It encompasses everything from basic functions of intelligence such as
Speaker 1: voice recognition, and goes all the way up to concepts
Speaker 1: like cognition and self awareness. Perhaps because of this broad definition,
Speaker 1: discussions about AI are also all over the map. Some
Speaker 1: people tout the ability of AI to help us accomplish
Speaker 1: difficult tasks or to offload more tedious work onto machines.
Speaker 1: Others point at AI as being a potential existential threat
Speaker 1: for all of humanity. Elon Musk, the entrepreneur behind such
Speaker 1: companies as Tesla and space X, has famously spoken out
Speaker 1: against developing AI without some sort of strong guiding principles.
Speaker 1: Musk's argument is that AI poses an enormous risk to humans.
Speaker 1: It doesn't have to be super intelligent to be a
Speaker 1: problem either. Take the concept of weaponized AI, for instance,
Speaker 1: This could take many forms. One example might be military
Speaker 1: robots with fairly simple AI. That AI could look for
Speaker 1: enemy soldiers or vehicles and direct a robot to fire
Speaker 1: upon them. Such a weapon would be a powerful tool
Speaker 1: for a nation to use against enemy forces, and it
Speaker 1: might mean that countries possessing that capability would be more
Speaker 1: willing to enter into conflicts. After all, the soldiers are
Speaker 1: made out of metal, glass, and plastic. They're expensive, but
Speaker 1: they're disposable. If you can put robots against an enemy
Speaker 1: and keep your people safe, you might be more willing
Speaker 1: to enter into that armed conflict. Or you could develop
Speaker 1: artificial intelligence designed to infiltrate and sabotage enemy infrastructure. Rather
Speaker 1: than controlling a physical robot, these program ms would attempt
Speaker 1: to penetrate, spy upon, or disrupt systems like power grids
Speaker 1: or other critical infrastructure. Security firms like Semantech have already
Speaker 1: warned the public that hackers had successfully compromised several energy
Speaker 1: companies to an alarming degree, and that if hackers so wished,
Speaker 1: they could potentially cause massive blackouts across major sections of
Speaker 1: the United States power grid. And automated intelligence that can
Speaker 1: behave in a similar way would be incredibly dangerous. None
Speaker 1: of this requires the artificial intelligence to have anything remotely
Speaker 1: similar to human intelligence, but if it is possible to
Speaker 1: make machines think for themselves, that could be even more risky.
Speaker 1: Russian President Vladimir Putin said that whoever becomes the leader
Speaker 1: in this sphere, that sphere being artificial intelligence, will become
Speaker 1: the ruler of the world. Puton seems to suggest that
Speaker 1: AI will be the next big arms race, and there
Speaker 1: are a lot of contenders pushing toward developing ever more
Speaker 1: powerful AI besides Russia, including China and the United States.
Speaker 1: Over at the United Nations, discussions about weaponized a I
Speaker 1: have begun. A group of more than one technology experts
Speaker 1: send a message to the U n to call for
Speaker 1: a ban on autonomous weapons. The message, in part read
Speaker 1: that if development in that space continued, it would be
Speaker 1: very difficult to reverse direction later on. In the meantime,
Speaker 1: weaponized AI could pose an enormous threat to vulnerable populations,
Speaker 1: and that's assuming everything is working properly in the first place.
Speaker 1: The United Nations has a rescheduled meeting of government experts
Speaker 1: to talk about AI that will happen in November. The
Speaker 1: meeting was rescheduled because some of the member nations had
Speaker 1: yet to pay their dues in September when the meeting
Speaker 1: was originally supposed to take place. While AI could potentially
Speaker 1: cause a great deal of harm, there's no denying it
Speaker 1: could also have a positive impact on the world if
Speaker 1: used responsibly. For example, IBM S Watson platform has been
Speaker 1: working with healthcare professionals to help doctors diagnosed and treat patients.
Speaker 1: Autonomous vehicles have the potential to prevent thousands of deaths
Speaker 1: from car accidents caused by human error. Abots are taking
Speaker 1: on more jobs that traditionally are dangerous for humans to perform.
Speaker 1: There are many applications of AI that are clearly beneficial
Speaker 1: to humans as a whole. The question about whether AI
Speaker 1: will ultimately be a boon or a threat to mankind
Speaker 1: seems to hinge largely upon how we are determined to
Speaker 1: implement it. If, as the group of technology experts argue,
Speaker 1: we place strict limitations on the use of AI in
Speaker 1: military applications, we may say that artificial intelligence is the
Speaker 1: most important technological advanced human beings have made since the
Speaker 1: invention of fire. If we do not heed those warnings,
Speaker 1: we may say it's the most destructive tool ever created.
Speaker 1: To learn more about artificial intelligence in all its forms
Speaker 1: and applications, subscribe to the tech Stuff podcast. The show
Speaker 1: publishes every Wednesday and Friday with a deep dive on
Speaker 1: big topics in the technology space. Also, I throw in
Speaker 1: a lot more jokes. That's all for today. I'll see
Speaker 1: you again soon. Wal Wal won