Introduction
Technology has come a long way in the past few decades. Today, technology is present in almost everything that we do. Currently, machines can have what is called artificial intelligence (AI) where machines are programmed to “think” like humans and complete complex tasks. Machines that use AI in the present day can perform tasks more efficiently than humans. With the nonstop progress in technology that humans have been making, one may begin to wonder what is next in line for artificial intelligence? If machines can already do so much with regular AI, can you imagine what they would be able to do with intelligence even greater than humans? That is the idea behind superintelligence, a concept that theorizes how machines can one day achieve intelligence beyond what humans have. This concept has been explored in sci-fi movies such as “The Terminator”, with a sentient neural network named the Skynet.
Pros
Computers are already able to outperform humans in many areas, not being limited by their bodies like humans are. If superintelligence is ever achieved, it will bring along a plethora of benefits. Many of the problems that plague humanity could be solved by super intelligent AI. Is there a disease or illness that we haven’t been able to cure? A computer with superintelligence could. Currently it is difficult to imagine what super intelligent machines will be able to accomplish since the potential is nearly limitless but looking at what computers can already do it is all but guaranteed that superintelligence will elevate humanity to a different level. Humans have limits to how much they can process, and we cannot always take every possible factor into account when making a choice. However, computers do not have this limit and are able to consider everything and choose the best possible outcome.
Cons
An issue that is already prevalent now that will get much worse with superintelligence is job loss. Machines are much more attractive to businesses and employers compared to human workers. Human workers need wages, benefits, time off, and have many physical limits. Meanwhile, machines have no physical limits and can be used endlessly. It is estimated that around 20 million jobs will be lost to machines by 2030, just from normal technology. Superintelligence is bound to cause an even greater loss in jobs due to the unbelievable things that machines will be able to achieve. Although we are very far off from achieving superintelligence, its negative impact on jobs is a necessary consideration. Additionally, there exists the threat of superintelligent AI gaining sentience and turning on humans. The previously mentioned Skynet is a good example of this. Sentient machines could realize that with superior intellect and physical capabilities, nothing is stopping them from rebelling and taking over. Creating unescapable robot dictators is not something that we want to do.
Is it even possible?
Now, engineers are far off from being able to achieve superintelligent AI. Currently, even the most advanced computers in the world, such as IBM’s Watson, are quite limited in their abilities and cannot be considered superintelligence. Watson was designed to “think” similarly to humans and be able to answer questions in a very complex manner. Although Watson has incredible processing power and analytics, the computer still needs to pull its info from data on servers. With the present level of technology, it is uncertain whether superintelligence will ever come to fruition. On the other hand, technology has improved extremely quickly in the recent decades. Comparing the technologies we had 100 years ago to current tech, the progress is truly mind blowing. However, considering how difficult superintelligence will be to achieve, we probably will not need to worry about robot overlords any time soon despite how fast we improve.
Conclusion
The concept of superintelligence is very interesting, however that is all that it is at the moment: just a concept. It is difficult to tell if and when it will happen, but we can be sure that if it ever does then it will bring about a huge change for humanity, whether it is for better or for worse.
References
https://fortunly.com/statistics/automation-job-loss-statistics/
https://searchenterpriseai.techtarget.com/definition/IBM-Watson-supercomputer
https://www.experfy.com/blog/artificial-sentience-vs-artificial-intelligence/
