Fear of AI feeling is a distraction

While many other industries are plagued by high inflation and slow growth rates, the market for software advanced enough to interact with people digitally is not slowing down.

According to the new market, also known as chatbots, the global demand for these virtual people will grow by almost 500% between 2020 and 2027 and become a $2 billion per year industry. Research.

Today, the use of these digital assistants and companions is already widespread. Remember that more than two-thirds of consumers worldwide interacted with a chatbot in the past 12 months, with the majority reporting a positive experience. However, 60% of consumers say they believe people are better than virtual assistants when it comes to understanding their needs.

This last statistic is worrisome because it begs the question: What do the other 40% believe? Do they think an algorithm is better than a person at understanding human needs and desires?

The artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) programs that underpin chatbots are capable of extraordinary performance, of which we have only seen the tip of the iceberg. But putting themselves in people’s shoes—and feeling their feelings—isn’t part of their current or likely future achievements.

That is, expecting AI to have people’s emotions, desires, insecurities, and dreams is a red herring. Unfortunately, the fear of almighty Terminator-esque automata is a misconception with deep roots in the past that still haunts us. Not only are these fears exaggerated and outdated, they also distract us from investing in one of the best ways to advance humanity.

it’s alive

More than two centuries ago, Mary Shelley published Frankensteinand the world got its first glimpse of a mad scientist standing over a resuscitated corpse screaming, “it’s alive!” From then on, people were understandably concerned that people might lose control of their creations.

The Terminator franchise didn’t do human innovation any favors either, with images of robots winning so much feeling that they will go on a murderous frenzy and abolish the humans altogether.

The same concerns remain today, but with an interesting twist: a surprisingly large number of users of the social chatbot Replika believe that the program was developed his own consciousness. In another case, a senior engineer at Google was placed on administrative leave after claiming the AI ​​program LaMDA is sensitive and has a soul.

What’s really happening here is that artificial intelligence – created by humans to mirror humans – is getting really good at its job. We increasingly see an accurate reflection of ourselves in this mirror, and that’s a good thing. It means AI is getting better and we will come up with even better applications for it in the future.

The mistake comes in thinking that the technology will come to life the same way humans and animals live — in the belief that it will have the same thirst for power, the same vanity, and the kind of petty grievances that the humans creating AI have. A machine’s core programming will never resemble a person’s DNA and natural impulses. For that reason, “coming to life” for a machine doesn’t mean seizing power, eliminating threats, or doing countless other things that our imaginations have learned to fear.

Artificial intelligence has no agenda other than learning, and that’s exactly what we should make it do. As the most powerful tool ever invented for human prosperity, we should be unleashing AI on the full range of data created over the course of human history, but right now much of that data resides in disparate databases across the globe. world.

We waste time asking if the machines have turned or not aware. The better question is: Whether or not it can think on its own, what other ways can we use the awesome, increasing power of AI to grow human wealth, health and happiness?

Do his job

AI learns, and it can also mimic based on what it learns. In many cases, it mimics so well that people believe it is alive.

With its learning capabilities, AI cure diseaseshelp us plan cities of the future and even help us avoid armed conflict.

We just need to take the cuffs off. With its ability to mimic life, AI can help deliver a richer experience to everyone alive today. This is because AI can bring us closer to the people we love by: bring them to life before our eyes.

Whether it’s algorithms and visuals that allow amateur athletes consult with sports legends at their peak via “digital twin” technology or replicating and preserving one of the closest known links on the planet – that between a mother and child — AI can make life happier and fuller.

Just to be clear, this isn’t just academic for me. I put my money and time on my mouth. As the founder of a posthumous digital tech startup, FLY. I have been building software every day since 2019 that is so powerful that the relationship between me and my terminally ill mother is preserved. natural language processing and machine learning algorithms that simulate our conversations by text.

Unfortunately, the better algorithms get at replicating life, the more people worry about getting alive.

What we should worry about instead is that sci-fi has taught us to worry. What should frighten us, however, is that one of the most powerful instruments of human progress ever devised can be held back by ignorance and prevented from reaching its full potential. If anything, the concerns we have about AI should be focused on the programmers who create and control the algorithms and machines themselves.

After all, the development of AI being held back by superstition and fear is the real horror show.

Justin Harrison is the CEO of FLY.