So when it comes to artificial intelligence
it is fabulous science fiction premise to
create a machine that will kill you.
And I very much enjoyed Ex Machina where the
guy builds these big robots and then there’s
trouble.
There’s trouble.
And I can’t help but think about Colossus,
the Forbin Project where they have these computers
that control the world’s nuclear arsenals.
And then things go wrong, you know.
Things just go wrong in science fiction sense.
But they remind us that if we can build a
computer smart enough to figure out that it
needs to kill is we can unplug it.
There are two billion people on earth who
do not have electricity.
They are not concerned about the artificial
intelligence computer that decides to crash
subway cars and kill people.
That’s not their issue.
And they don’t even have electricity or
clean running water.
So while we’re worried about artificial
intelligence I hope we also take the bigger
picture that none of this happens right now
without electricity.
And so we still don’t have anything but
really primitive means of generating electricity.
And I look forward to the day when everybody
has clean water and a supply of quality electricity.
And then we can take these meetings about
the problems of artificial intelligence.
However, are there any viewers, listeners
here who have not been to an airport where
the train that takes you from terminal B to
terminal A is automated, is not automated.
Everybody’s been on an automated train,
okay.
In the developed world, especially the United
States.
Okay, that’s artificial intelligence.
Everybody has used a toilet that’s connected
to a sewer system whose valves are controlled
by software that somebody wrote that is artificial
intelligence.
So keep in mind that if we unplug the trains
or the sewer system valves the thing will
stop.
We still control electricity so this apocalyptic
view of computers that people write software
for to do tasks, repetitive tasks or complicated
tasks that no one person can sort out for
him or herself.
That is not new.
I do not see that it’s artificial – I
mean that it’s inherently bad.
Artificial intelligence is not inherently
bad.
So just use your judgment everybody.
Let’s – we can do this.
I worked on three channel autopilots almost
40 years ago.
The plane lands itself and humans designed
the system.
It didn’t come from the sky.
It’s artificially intelligent.
That’s good.
We can do this.
