You’ll Be Scared in the Dark
Why most dystopian scenarios surrounding AI don’t stand the test of time
“Does believing you’re the last sane man on the planet make you crazy? ’Cause if that’s the case, maybe I am.”- Detective Del Spooner in I, Robot
When talking about artificial intelligence (AI), people are often scared and think of a near-future doomsday. Technophobia, a well-known phenomenon, subsumes the human dread or hatred of cutting edge innovation or sophisticated gadgets, particularly PCs. When applied to AI technology, there are mainly two types of scares: the possibility that AI will get cognizant and look to obliterate us. The idea that corrupt individuals will utilize AI for insidious purposes. Are these “typical” fears well-grounded, and should we, therefore, be afraid of AI? How are these fears being shaped and garnered?
Influential people in science and technology such as Stephen Hawking, who has publicly quipped AI to “either the best or the worst thing, ever to happen to humanity,” or Elon Musk have been talking about ways AI-powered robots will exterminate humans. Musk, who is worried about what might happen, suggested that robots could delete humans like spam, and even said in a since-deleted comment that killer robots could arrive by 2019. According to Louis Del Monte, the real threat doesn’t lie in…
