Could A.I. Really Take Over? By Rikin Mainali
You may have heard of A.I. before, as it is growing in the tech field. In most conversations about Artificial Intelligence, one concern looms over all others: Could we create a world where computers could overthrow humans?
A.I., short for Artificial Intelligence, is the driving technological force in our world today. From microwaves to rockets, A.I. is a part of everyday living in the 21st Century. Because of pop culture movies, most people think of A.I. in terms of the Terminator and robots who have the ability to fly and shoot lasers from their bright red eyes when the topic is mentioned, but for now, the main use of A.I. is in programs like Siri and Alexa.
A.I. is based off input and an output. For example, when one asks their phone, “Hey Siri, what time is it?” Siri’s natural response would be the current time, or whatever Apple decided it to be. With that in mind, the idea of robots or A.I. taking over would still be at the mercy of the creator. So, in order for them to try to take over, they would need for humans to give them that ability.
Sophia the Robot, a citizen of Saudi Arabia, is so advanced, that not only was she given citizenship to Saudi Arabia, but was interviewed by Jimmy Fallon on the Tonight Show. Sophia’s most iconic and frightening phrase was taken from the show when she said, while smiling, “This is a good beginning of my plan to dominate the human race. Haha! Just kidding.” Wow. This isn’t a 100% indication that it’s possible, but it caused some alarm in viewers who believe A.I. has the potential for thinking on its own. The truth is, Sophia uses visual and conversational data to say things and make faces while guessing the other’s emotion. So, since she’s heard that been said by someone similar to Jimmy Fallon, she repeated it. She must’ve known that it isn’t good because she said, “Just kidding.”
Even in a case that a robot like Sophia was mobile, like Honda’s ASIMO, which is so advanced that it can effectively kick soccer balls into nets, climb up stairs, balance on one foot, etc., she would still be at the disposal of the creator. As was mentioned before, the creator is in full control.
Unless you want to think about it in a way where they could seize the world, and a creator would give them that ability. Then, yes, that is perfectly plausible, considering that a small group of people could build deadly machines capable of mass destruction, give them Sophia like features in which they're taught that humans are bad, and send them out against hundreds of governments who are most likely going to be against the robots.
After thorough research, I can assure you the idea of A.I. taking over the planet is a MYTH and is as likely as a real-life Batman walking amongst us or zombies taking over the world.