WILL ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TAKE OVER THE WORLD?

It's easy to be an alarmist.  Heads turn when one screams.  But where is the line between alarmist and cautious realist?

We have heard the alarm about artificial intelligence - "AI" - for quite a while - the better we get at developing artificial intelligence, the closer we get to computers taking over the world.  Hardly a week goes by that we do not hear of technological advances that permit computers to replace employees, and to drive cars and trains and planes better than we do, and, generally, to perform at a higher level than humans. 

According to an article in The Daily Mail , this "evolution" is not going unnoticed.  Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple, Inc., reportedly said in an interview recently that computers may actually be dangerous to our society.  This is a turnaround from his previous position that had dismissed warnings that computers and artificial intelligence would take over the world.  And Stephen Hawking and Tesla executive Elon Musk apparently have issued their own warnings as well.

The enormous benefits of advanced technology are clear, but, according to some of the most respected scientists, the fast-paced progress must not go unmonitored. 

The message of caution in simple terms is at least this - the smarter that computers get, the more vulnerable that humans become in diverse areas of society, such as in the economic arena with significant job losses resulting from robot/computer technology displacing the human workforce at rates much higher than present.

Many think that job-loss, however, is just one of many potential ills that unchecked technological advance may harbor - and a lesser ill at that.  Think "Terminator" and other popular sci-fi films if your imagination fails you.

The alarm has been sounded.  The important question is - will it be heeded?

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