artificial intelligence

I originally wrote today’s post for NICE inContact. It appeared on their site on July 1, 2021.

There are many reasons why we shouldn’t regulate artificial intelligence, or “A.I.,” one reason why we should.

Within the field of artificial intelligence, a new Japanese initiative promises to further blur the line between human and machine. A group of AI researchers at Japan’s National Institute of Informatics just set a new goal: create an artificial intelligence program capable of passing the nation’s most difficult college entrance exams – including the entrance exam at the University of Tokyo. If an AI program can trick college admissions officers into thinking that it’s a human – it would mark one of the greatest accomplishments yet for artificial intelligence.

The new experimental "brain chips" developed by researchers at IBM and DARPA represent a fundamental breakthrough in computing power. If these brain chips are ever commercialized, they would make possible what are essentially thinking, artificial brains. Just as the human brain is capable of building and re-wiring synapses as part of an evolutionary learning process, these IBM brain chips are able to form, re-form and strengthen artificial synapses, giving them the ability to take on tasks related to sentient beings. Instead of being mere calculators, the new era of computers would be able to "sense, perceive, interact and recognize" in the same way that humans can.

If it sometimes feels like it’s impossible to keep up with the torrent of information, data and digital content that’s being created every day online, you’re not alone. Within the next few years, it’s highly conceivable that many of us will have enhanced versions of ourselves that are able to complete all the routine online tasks – such as updating our social networking profiles or applying to jobs – that are already within the limits of artificial intelligence. In fact, the entire Transhumanism movement is based around that very idea – that soon, a hybrid of human and machine intelligence will make it possible to transcend our current cognitive limits.