HAL 9000, the sentient computer in 2001: A Space Odyssey, offers an ominous glimpse of a future in which machines endowed with artificial intelligence reject human authority. After taking control of a spacecraft and killing most of the crew, HAL responds to a returning astronaut’s order to open the ship’s pod bay door in an eerily calm voice: “I’m sorry, Dave, I’m afraid I can’t do that.” In the recent science-fiction thriller Ex Machina, the seductive humanoid Ava tricks a hapless young man into helping her destroy her creator, Nathan. Her machinations lend credence to Nathan’s dark prediction: “One day the AIs are going to look back on us the same way we look at fossil skeletons on the plains of Africa. An upright ape living in dust with crude language and tools, all set for extinction.”
Although the possibility of a robot apocalypse is at the forefront of the popular imagination, our research team is more sanguine about the impact that artificial intelligence will have in real life. We envision a fast-approaching future in which useful and cooperative robots interact with people in a wide variety of settings. Prototypes already exist for voice-activated personal robotic assistants that can link and monitor personal electronic devices, manage the locks, lights and thermostats in a home, and even read bedtime stories to kids. Robots that can help with household chores and care for the sick and elderly will soon follow. Prototype robotic inventory checkers already glide through the aisles of some home improvement stores. Mobile humanoid industrial robots that can do simple production-line jobs such as loading, unloading and sorting materials are in development as well. Cars with autopilot features have already logged millions of miles on U.S. roads, and Daimler unveiled the world’s first autonomous semitruck in Nevada last year.
For the time being, superintelligent machines that pose an existential threat to humanity are the least of our worries. The more immediate concern is how to prevent robots or machines with rudimentary language and AI capabilities from inadvertently harming people, property, the environment or themselves.
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