21 Taking to the extremes, James Cameron’s Terminator franchise warns us of the inherent dangers of AI and Cloud as Skynet, the movies’ artificial neural network-based consciousness gains self-awareness due to unlimited processing power. It achieves this by spreading into millions of computer servers all across the world; thus realising the extent of its own abilities. AI INFRASTRUCTURE So where does science fiction and computer science merge? The critical pillars of artificial intelligence and machine learning is giving computers independent abilities to receive and learn by applying statistical algorithms to adapt and evolve. The fear many perceive is what type of mandates these new digital life forms are given. Being blinded by the potential benefits may leave us open to greater dangers than we’d like to imagine. Broadly speaking, artificial intelligence is the science of simulating human intelligence, or teaching machines and computers to perform complex tasks. Of course, when most people think of AI, they think of perfectly rational self-aware robots and computers like you see in popular science fiction as seen in iRobot, I.A. and Bicentennial Man. But the kind of AI that’s going to change the world is called machine learning, and machine learning is basically just complex math applied to real world situations. Cloud computing is the third wave of the digital revolution. Lowell McAdam, CEO of Verizon The more data collected, the better the accuracy of prediction and reaction. Irrespective of industry verticals, machine learning needs data and evolving AI functions means the possibilities become outstanding, but not all AI is created equally. I predict that, because of artificial intelligence and its ability to automate certain tasks that in the past were impossible to automate, not only will we have a much wealthier civilization, but the quality of work will go up very significantly and a higher fraction of people will have callings and careers relative to today, Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon.com The future of AI and Cloud means all networks and unstructured data in data lakes can become input to advanced machine learning. With the unforeseeable revolutionary expansion in AI, new systems and security measures will be required to limit the environment from the bigger fears of Artificial Intelligent viruses, and virtual smart bombs by rogue agencies. While Bezos is correct in many aspects, the big dilemma is to what level to we hand over control of our functional lives to this new digital life form and to try to map worst case scenarios in advance of future implementations. It’s not artificial intelligence I’m worried about, it’s human stupidity. Neil Jacobstein, chair of the AI and Robotics track at Singularity University PROPHETS OF DOOM Many alarmists are already becoming Prophets of Doom, and it’s the place of Cloud Suppliers, AI Scientists and Futurists to educate both themselves about the dangers of this merger while promoting to the global community of the benefits of this union between cloud and AI. Elon Musk has voiced major concerns about the potential dangers of Artificial Intelligence. “Unless we learn how to prepare for, and avoid, the potential risks, AI could be the worst event in the history of our civilization. It brings dangers, like powerful autonomous weapons, or new ways for the few to oppress the many. It could bring great disruption to our economy.” Stephen Hawkings, Physicist “Artificial intelligence is the future, not only for Russia, but for all humankind. It comes with enormous opportunities, but also threats that are difficult to predict. Whoever becomes the leader in this sphere will become the ruler of the world.” Russia’s president Vladimir Putin CAMBRIDGE ANALYTICA In a more insidious manner, many claim that the data collected by Cambridge Analytica was instrumental in the sway of Facebook users during the 2016 U.S. presidential election and later U.K.’s Brexit illustrating the power for social manipulation. Technology is essentially wired to diffuse across the world, and there are few natural incentives to control it. Regulating AI increasingly looks like regulating human senses – it’ll be tricky. Jack Clark Research Source: Forbes
