From Russell Brandom at Verge:
While some predict mass unemployment or all-out war between humans and artificial intelligence, others foresee a less bleak future. Professor Manuela Veloso, head of the machine learning department at Carnegie Mellon University, envisions a future in which humans and intelligent systems are inseparable, bound together in a continual exchange of information and goals that she calls “symbiotic autonomy.” In Veloso’s future, it will be hard to distinguish human agency from automated assistance — but neither people nor software will be much use without the other.
Veloso is already testing out the idea on the CMU campus, building roving, segway-shaped robots called “cobots” to autonomously escort guests from building to building and ask for human help when they fall short. It’s a new way to think about artificial intelligence, and one that could have profound consequences in the next five years.More.
Another student job tossed out the window, one that all participants enjoyed and learned from. But then the students can always sign up for more courses in the pursuit of grievances, so all’s well.
Why does all this remind one of Paul “Population Bomb” Ehrlich’s “The battle to feed humanity is over,” predicting inevitable widespread famines that, of course, never happened. And other a-crock-a-lypses?
Most apocalypses actually can’t happen because they are competitive. Subtractive, not additive. The TED talks will, however, assuredly happen.
See also: New Book: Philosophers, AI experts ask, are we living in an AI simulation? Will AI out think us?
John Searle talks to Google. Searle does a good job showing why computers are not conscious. (johnnyb)
and
Steve Fuller: Humans will merge with AI
Follow UD News at Twitter!