Page 81 - ISLA 240 REVIEW PACKET

intelligence. Intelligence is what made us, humans, the dominant species on Earth. Intelligence is the most powerful instrument around. What worries me is that we’re headed in the direction of building AI technologies that are at the human level and, eventually, far beyond that. Narrow forms of AI like the one that drives the Google car or helps the doctor make diagnoses or helps people on Wall Street make investment decisions — those are all very specialized forms of AI and seem relatively harmless in my opinion. The more advanced forms of AI are becoming so intelligent that they can perform an infinite variety of tasks across domains of activity. I feel like they will develop them and continue to make them smarter and more capable and more powerful until we reach a point at which they start to learn on their own and start to modify themselves. Once they achieve consciousness, which is the essence of being a human, who’s to say that they won’t take over humanity? In that case, we would literally lose humanity and the ability to safely be human, which horrifies me. This could be the pitfall of all advancements in our technology.
The role of the creator of technology in terms of how their technology is used is something we do learn about as computer science majors! Developers must design with the right questions in mind during the design process. We are taught to ask questions like who am I designing for? Why am I creating this product? How do I want this product to be used? How can I prevent this product from being misused? What is the best outcome from this product? These types of questions are integral to creating ethical products. So many people in the technology industry get caught up in simply making money (because there is so much to be made) that they forget to ask important questions and remember the value in their work. ​I find that in the tech industry, there is a lot of toxic competition that makes people lose sight of what is really important, especially at the college age level. People get so caught up in making money and