Could machines become so intelligent and powerful they pose a threat to human life, or even humanity as a whole?
It’s a question that has become fashionable in some parts of Silicon Valley in recent years, despite being more or less irreconcilable with the simple robots and glitchy virtual assistants of today (see “AI Doomsayer Says His Ideas Are Catching On”). Some experts in artificial intelligence believe speculation about the dangers of future, super-intelligent software is harming the field.
Now Google, a company heavily invested in artificial intelligence, is trying to carve out a middle way. A new paper released today describes five problems that researchers should investigate to help make future smart software safer. In a blog post on the paper, Google researcher Chris Olah says they show how the debate over AI safety can be made more concrete and productive.
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