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Sulochan Acharya
29 February 2018
In the current era of technology, individuals are seen in a self-driving car ignoring the
wheel, having their drink, and texting their loved ones. Some individuals are seen talking with a
virtual assistant on their phone just to know the weather. Only a year prior, a human-like robot
named Sophia was given citizenship by the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It all started when Charles
Babbage, considered as the father of computers, invented the machine known as Analytical
Engine. This machine used to calculate mathematical operations utilizing input, process and
output approach. This approach led to the invention of modern computers and the rest is just
history. Today modern computers are far more complicated and powerful compared to what was
invented during the nineteenth century. According to Moore’s law, their processing power has
been increasing exponentially every year. This exponential increase in processing power has led
computers to compute long numerical operations all the way to virtual simulations of nature to a
People believe that soon computers will have so much processing power that it could
reenact a human brain. They believe artificial intelligence will reach a point of singularity where
it will outperform human intelligence. Some believe that the superior artificial intelligence can
go rogue and try to wipe out their own creators. But, one author comments, “I think the concept
intelligence” (Bundy 40). Machines that use artificial intelligence are designed to work in a
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confined domain, are specific on its objectives, are dangerous only with the possibility to steal
Every form of machine intelligence that individuals see at the present can perform on a
restricted space. But, the same machine cannot process if given the tasks that are out of their
scope. For example, voice assistant in iPhones called Siri can text, call or have a conversation
with a person. If someone asks Siri to play chess, it might respond by giving a web search of the
chess game; but, it still cannot play chess. Alan Bundy, a professor at the University of
Edinburgh, asserts, “Deep Blue was a chess-playing computer, developed by IBM, that defeated
the then-world champion, Garry Kasparov, in 1996. Deep Blue could play chess better than any
human, but could not do anything other than play chess—it could not even move the pieces on a
physical board” (Bundy 40). Artificial intelligence always tends to solve a particular task instead
of replicating human intelligence (Dubhashi and Lappin 44). It can be inferred that, however,
machines with artificial intelligence can outperform humans in certain tasks, it can never step out
of its realm. The fact that Deep Blue could not move the chess piece supports the assertion that
the objectives of the machines with artificial intelligence are constrained to a certain extent. The
While most people fear that artificial intelligence might someday lead humanity to the
doomsday, the real danger is not of that kind. According to Dubhashi and Lappin, “By contrast
to super intelligent agents, we are currently facing a very real and substantive threat from AI of
an entirely different kind” (Dubhashi and Lappin 45). It is found that automation is at its peak
due to current AI technologies. Automation is increasing swiftly during recent years and has
threatened jobs of some professionals including medical consultants (Dubhashi and Lappin 45).
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Companies prefer automation as a substitute for humans because of their efficiency, stability,
existential threat to humans caused by artificial intelligence. Authors state that, “no form of
can be inferred that someday in the future, almost every company will implement automation
leading to high unemployment rates. However, unemployment cannot steer humanity into a
cataclysmic event like extinction. The issue of unemployment, which might be induced by
artificial intelligence in the future, can be solved by the government. The government has the
power to regulate companies and its policies. Unemployment is a real concern for humans. But,
Furthermore, people believe anything that interacts or thinks like a human is some form
machine that uses artificial intelligence. For example, weather forecasting is done by
conventional computers given some variables and processing power. Some people believe that
weather forecasting is a form of artificial intelligence. Some purveyors describe the system as
artificial intelligence because of their phenomenal capabilities (Parnas 27). This means that
artificial intelligence. The author of The Real Risks of Artificial Intelligence: Incidents from the
Early Days of AI Research Are Instructive in the Current AI Environment explains, “those who
use the term ‘artificial intelligence’ have not defined that term. I first heard the term more than
50 years ago and have yet to hear a scientific definition. Even now, some AI experts say that
defining AI is a difficult [and important] question” (Parnas 27). It can be inferred that artificial
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intelligence has no rational definition. Every individual has their own definition of artificial
intelligence.
Human beings are intelligent in almost every aspect. Humans can solve problems, predict
outcomes, play games and act according to the situation using a single processor called the brain.
Only when a single artificially intelligent machine can perform general tasks, it can be compared
with human intelligence. When programmers refer to artificial intelligence, they always mean
something specific to them (Parnas 31). As explained earlier, programmers can only create
artificial intelligence to perform a very specific task. There is no such thing as a general artificial
intelligence.
These are the primary reasons why artificial intelligence is not a threat to humanity.
Intelligent machines are very specific to their task. It may pose some insignificant threat to
humans which can be eliminated, however, artificial intelligence cannot induce disastrous effects
capable of the downfall of humanity. If humans can create such thing, then humans can destroy it
too. Sometimes, certain conventional machines designed to work in a specified task are
humans. If there are any developments of general artificial intelligence in the future, one might
consider it comparing with humans. However, humans will always be superior and will have the
Works Cited
Bundy, Alan. "Smart Machines Are Not a Threat to Humanity." Communications of the
Real." Communications of the ACM, vol. 60, no. 2, 2017. pp. 43-45.
Parnas, David Lorge. "The Real Risks of Artificial Intelligence: Incidents from the Early Days