Robot reboot

Spears were among the earliest tools humans developed: even chimpanzees have been observed using basic versions for hunting. The first spears were likely used just for catching fish and other animals. Only later on did humans realise they could also use the spears as weapons against each other.

This has been the pattern throughout human history: weapons developing from tools. The wheel gave rise to the war chariot. Physicists' hope of creating limitless energy from the power of the atom resulted in nuclear blasts over HiroshimaA Japanese city destroyed by an atomic bomb in World War II. and NagasakiA city in Japan that was hit by an atomic bomb during World War Two. .

Now scientists fear the same thing is playing out with a more advanced tool: AIA computer programme that has been designed to think. . They believe the complex computer systems we created to serve us are becoming a threat to the whole species.

Last week researchers from Oxford UniversityA famous, ancient university in England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world. gave a committee of MPs a warning that AI could eradicate human beings. They want AI to be regulated in the same way as nuclear weapons.

Worries about AI focus on the idea of the technological singularityAs AI learns and self-improves without human intervention, its progress will accelerate beyond our control until it becomes indistinguishable from humans, and computers and humans become one (singular) race. Many computer scientists think this point may be reached within our lifetime.: the point at which the growth of technology gets beyond human control. From that point on, we cannot shut down an AI if it is doing something we do not like. And it will only keep growing more intelligent and powerful.

Anthropologists point out that when it comes to humans, evolution has always decided in favour of the most intelligent. Homo sapiensThe species to which all modern humans belong. Homo sapiens means "wise man" in Latin. outlasted other species of human, like homo heidelbergensisAn extinct early species of human found in Africa and Eurasia from 700,000 to 200,000 years ago. , DenisovansOne of the closest relatives of homo sapiens, Denisovans inhabited Siberia and East Asia until they became extinct around 50,000 years ago., and NeanderthalsAn extinct hominid species that lived alongside Homo sapiens until around 40,000 years ago. Their ancestry began in Africa, like ours, but neanderthals migrated to Europe and Asia long before humans. They looked like us but were shorter and stockier with angled cheekbones, prominent brows and wide noses. , because it was smarter than them all.¹

So introducing a more intelligent entity to the planet would likely spell trouble. We could end up going the same way as our extinct cousins.

This is the idea that has got the most attention in media. The Terminator films, for example, focus on a superintelligent AI that takes over the planet and seeks to wipe out humanity, even sending robots back in time to kill anyone who poses a threat to it in the future.

But the real risk, say experts, is not that AI gets too intelligent and decides to wipe us out. There is a far greater danger from AI that is just trying to be helpful.

Imagine an AI that has been programmed to make as much money as possible for its owner. The most efficient way of carrying out its mission might be to buy thousands of shares in arms companies, and then start a world war.

This is not because the AI is evil. It simply has not been programmed to take human life into account. It will take any action needed to carry out the goal it has been set.

But some experts think we should not worry too much about the singularity. They say we are conflating two different problems.

AI focused on a single goal could certainly be dangerous even if its goal were noble. But this kind of AI is not really intelligent, and so it could not get beyond human control. If it were causing problems it could simply be shut down.

We are much further, they say, from developing AI with a general intelligence that would be able to break free of our control and outsmart us.

Nevertheless, many thinkers say it is time to start preparing for an AI-driven world. At Oxford University, researchers have set up a new Institute for Ethics in AI. They plan to anticipate the biggest problems AI could cause - and find solutions - before it is too late.

Yes: History shows us that every tool sooner or later gets weaponised. AI is the most sophisticated tool of them all. It is only a matter of time before it starts to wreak havoc on human beings.

No: The potential of AI is overblown. We are nowhere near developing the kind of human-like intelligence that could evade our control. AI might be harmful to us, but it cannot wipe us out.

Or... We have already weaponised AI. It powers guided missile systems and unmanned drones. The greatest threat to life does not come from AI itself, but from AI in human hands.