True artificial intelligence (AI) can replace humans. It probably can take over the world. However, you won’t be seeing true AI in the next decades or even the following centuries. What we have now is learning AI — one that doesn’t even come close to the real thing.
True AI
True AI needs to be sentient and have a measure of free will. Every other form of AI is just complex programming. The programming language itself restricts the development of True AI. With just binary choices, a program can ultimately only answer yes or no — no maybes and no buts. This lack of flexibility is what makes current “so-called AI” inferior to humans, but this lack of flexibility also makes them superior in some ways. You know your calculator or computer won’t deliberately give you a wrong answer and even if it did, chances are it’s a malfunction or glitch and not some evil ulterior motive. Sentient or self-aware AI is still a pipe dream and the current technology might not have the capability to build one.
Robots Taking Jobs
AI doomsayers often predict massive waves of job loss due to the entry of AI into various industries. That prediction can’t be more wrong. AI won’t be replacing humans any time soon. The current AI in the USA performs repetitive menial jobs that require very little skill. AI is more suited to assisting workers than actually replacing them. One of the biggest hit by AI fears is the commercial trucking industry. The fear of self-driving trucks have contributed to the massive shortage of drivers, and industry leaders maintain that even so-called self-driving vehicles still require human drivers. The use of AI in commercial airplanes in the form of the autopilot has been going around for years. However, airlines still employ actual pilots.
For AI, driving is a lot more complicated than flying. There are more factors on the road than in the air — pedestrians, bikers, accidents, actual traffic — an AI system will not be enough. Accident lawyers already have field days with human truck drivers — what more with AI? With no driver to sue, the trucking company and the AI developer get all the blame, and no company will risk that. Like planes, trucks will have an onboard driver who can switch on the AI once the truck reaches the highway. The driver still makes the decisions; the AI manages primary cruise control and road alignment.
The Future of AI
Expect to see more of these learning programs integrated into your daily life. These so-called AI will be assisting people in their jobs, entertaining gamers with their tenacity, driving cars, and keeping tabs on you over the internet. Real AI? Probably not in your lifetime and maybe not in a few centuries. Scientists have yet to crack the wonder of actual sentience. It’s a lot easier to reach the stars than make a thinking robot.
You probably won’t see true AI in your lifetime, and that’s a good thing. Robot overlords will not be taking over the world. Instead, you have learning AI that dutifully serves at the behest of its human masters.
