The Perils and Promises of Superintelligence: Debunking the Myths (2016)

The concept of superintelligence, where machines exceed human levels of intelligence, is a growing concern among scientists and tech leaders. Philosopher Nick Bostrom argues that such an intelligence explosion is both dangerous and inevitable given a set of modest assumptions. However, there are arguments against the idea of superintelligence as a risk to humanity, including the Orthogonality Thesis and the fact that AI development will take place on human timescales. The fear that superintelligence will take over the world is criticized as megalomania, and the idea that AI research is the most important thing to work on is questioned in light of other pressing global issues. The pursuit of AI can incentivize crazy and lead to harmful social effects, such as AI cosplay. The idea of superintelligence also brings up the possibility of immortality through nanotechnology and brain scanning, as well as the belief in living in a simulation. However, the pressing ethical questions in machine learning are not about machines becoming self-aware and taking over the world, but about how people can exploit other people, or through carelessness introduce immoral behavior into automated systems. The dangers of being too smart and the need for effective leadership in the field of AI are emphasized. The near future of AI and machine learning poses its own serious problems, including ethical questions about how people can exploit others and how AI affects power relationships. In the absence of effective leadership, it is up to individuals to think through all of the ethical issues that AI is bringing into the world.
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