At the dawn of a new era of artificial intelligence, will we see an age of prosperity, or are we sowing the seeds of our own destruction . . .For decades, some theoretical scientists have suggested that artificial intelligence will lead to the extinction of a humanity made obsolete. We can already see the beginnings of this, they claim, as human jobs are lost to computer automation.
For some of those people, it's become fashionable to stockpile supplies in underground bunkers in anticipation of "the singularity"—the point at which the development of artificial intelligence will outpace our capacity to control it.
Other, more optimistic experts suggest that, properly regulated, AI will be a great boon to science, dramatically increasing the efficiency of scientific research and medical treatment. Researchers at MIT, for example, have used a deep learning model to identify a chemical compound to treat
E. Coli infections. Likewise, the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to the developers of Google DeepMind for devising a system to map proteins much more quickly than humans could before.
Toby Walsh, a leading researcher of AI at the University of New South Wales has monitored the development and influence of artificial intelligence since before most people had a computer in their home. Looking back over the history of its development, he lays out the ways in which we use this technology, the history of its evolution, and what we can do to navigate it going forward.
For decades, some theoretical scientists have suggested that AI will lead to the extinction of humanity . . .
Fearing the singularity—the point at which the development of artificial intelligence will outpace our capacity to control it—some scientists are sounding the alarm that a powerful AI could threaten our very existence as a species. More optimistic experts suggest that, properly regulated, AI will be a great boon to humanity—dramatically increasing the efficiency of scientific research and medical treatment.
Both are very real possibilities, says leading, long-time artificial intelligence researcher Toby Walsh. In God AI, Walsh draws upon over-forty years experience, to explain the history and the future of AI's role in computing. He explores both the possibility of enormously positive outcomes, as well as the existential risks posed by accelerating headlong into an AI-powered future.
With great clarity and humor, Walsh gives us a manual to understanding how we actually use this technology, and how we can safely steer it into the future—before it accelerates out of our control.
