Will robots really take over?

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In my previous post, 5 Technology disasters, I talked about disasters as a result from excessive faith in technology. With these examples in mind, what can go wrong in the future? Well, everything of course, but if we focus on the most advanced technologies, such as nanotechnology, genetic engineering and robotics (including exoskeletons and cyborgs). This post will talk about robotics. I will deal with nanotechnology and genetic engineering in future posts.

We know that one day robots (or computers actually) will be smarter than us. The point of singularity. Maybe it will take 20 years or maybe 40 years. It does not matter how long it takes, we can be sure that the day will come. Without trying to define what smartness or intelligence is.

After that, they will quickly improve their ability and even become superior to us in just a short time. AI develops exponential over time while the human brain have a slow rate of development.
How will they perceive us humans? What will they do when they understand that we are slower and dumber? Will we just be something hindering them and their goals? What will be their goals? Will we be regarded as a set of atoms that can be used to something better? The questions are many. Raymond Kurzweil and his friends are claiming that it will not be so much about they and us. Humans and robots will live in symbiosis with each other. They will be part of us and for that reason part of our goals. Now, that doesn’t mean that there will be no standalone robots. Of course there will be robots without close connections to humans. They will take their own decisions based on how they are programmed. When they are the better programmers who will program the robots? As long as we program them we can set the limits. We have control and we can shape the robots as we want. Asimov, the great SF writer stated the 3 robot laws in his book “I Robot”. Take a look at this video where he explain the laws in his own words.
Isaac Asimov: The Three Laws of Robotics

If done right robots can never harm us but what if it is done wrong? What if there is some logical “backdoor” in the program that we missed but that the robots can use.

Can this really happen, is it a real threat?

I have always thought of this scenario as a typical expression of fear of new technology. I always thought that it can be easily controlled. Just a theme for movies but something that will never happen in real. I have slowly changed my view on this.

The US Department of Defense plans includes “to have one third of its fighting capacity provided by robots” within 6 years from now and “to have the first completely autonomous robot soldiers” on the battlefield by 2035.

These robots must have intelligence to be soldiers. They must be able to see the difference between enemies and friends. What will happen if they suddenly redefine who is the enemy?  How good is the code that prevents them from thinking in those lines? This just an example…

I still believe and hope that we will handle this but then we must be well aware of the risks in advance. We will have many other challenges at the same time as I wrote in humanoids – the next generation and we don’t need more problems!

Links:

Robotics – a realistic future view

heaven or hell – future scenarios

Wikipedia about robotics

International Foundation of Robotics Research (IFRR)

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