An interesting article (http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/nov/29/artificial-intelligence-how-clever-do-want-machines-to-be) on the future of Artificial Intelligence (AI). As the article says, this is no longer a challenge that’s so far in the future as to be Science Fiction, but is becoming a reality through the combined forces of near limitless computing-power in the cloud, almost ubiquitous fast connectivity on 4G and WiFi, and ‘ambient’ computing (our phones, our cars, our watches, our glasses etc). Even Elon Musk, not a man to be dismissed when it comes to things technological, has stated that AI is mans greatest threat:
As the Guardian article says:
“Assuming we avoid the superintelligent AIs wiping us out as an afterthought, manage to automate a large proportion of our jobs without creating mass unemployment and societal unrest, and navigate the tricky boundaries of what personhood entails in a world where we can code passable simulacra of humans, then yes, it should be fine.”