i, robot
Each and every time I hear the term AI I can’t but help myself from remembering Isaac Asimov’s eerily human-like HAL computer’s famous line “I am putting myself to the fullest possible use, which is all I think that any conscious entity can ever hope to do.” Oh, if only.
So far, we, the human race, have proved via evolution to be the most advanced entity capable of learning and of real, true intelligence. Throughout our lives we see, hear, feel and experience everything that feeds into our knowledge and actions. As a child you only touch a hot iron once, though the smart ones learn the same from watching the dumb ones do it first! For decades, corporations and government agencies have poured unlimited billions into achieving AI’s Holy Grail – human-level intelligence, known as Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). But once attained, will it prove to be the mere precursor to an intelligence significantly greater than our own, Artificial Super Intelligence (ASI)? This is not science fiction but science fact and, according to AI sage Stuart Russell, AGI is a product worth $13.5 quadrillion (that’s 13.5 with fourteen zeros), a veritable fever-dream of cash for the likes of Sam Altman and Elon Musk, let alone our very own PM, to squabble over.
Sir Keir has been under intense pressure to deliver a ‘race to the moon’ dose of optimism and he’s opted to do so by seeking to turbocharge AI across all sectors of our economy. He reckons that AI can be harnessed within four short years to unleash #47bn in enhanced output. Go, Keir! Mind, opting to not do this would’ve been akin to deciding to ignore electricity at the beginning of the 20th century but he will have to overcome three main obstacles.
First, he’ll need money, a great deal of money to increase government-owned computing facilities. Secondly, he’ll have to balance this with conflicting priorities wrt environmental concerns and decarbonizing the national grid. Studies suggest AI systems use up to thirty times as much energy as traditional programs and Ireland is already seeing a third of its power going into datacenters. Finally, he’ll need to do-a-Trump and pally-up to the tech bros and make the tax and immigration systems welcoming to a small number of supposedly brilliant people. Irrespective of our accepted absolute need for economic growth, good luck with those three.
Whilst I kinda admire the blind faith the current administration is placing in future tech, Alexa’s first recommendations on how to improve and finance services is to invest more in public health, youth services and to increase nationwide taxation. I’m not holding my breath but, as ASI will possess no empathy or consciousness (and no amount of anthropomorphism will confer or bestow this quality), those machines of the very-near future will undoubtedly find a far better use of our molecules and atoms than allowing us to continue to thrive and prosper!
