The very best ideas for preventing artificial intelligence from wrecking the planet

RV_ · July 7, 2015

I'm just going to excerpt this one and list the headings they cover in greater depth than one line. But the best minds are concerned enough to put their money where their mouths are.

Excerpt:

"The Boston-based Future of Life Institute, backed by a $10 million donation from Elon Musk, recently announced its list of 37 winners of research grants in the field of artificial intelligence. Spurred by concerns from luminaries such as Musk, Stephen Hawking and Bill Gates that we’re ill-prepared for the coming age of machine super-intelligence, the grants — ranging in size from $20,000 to $1.5 million — are part of a bigger plan to prevent AI from wrecking the planet.

At the very least, one hopes, the ideas and concepts being explored in these winning AI grants might help prevent some of the “unintended” and “disastrous” consequences hinted at by the Future of Life Institute earlier — such as robot homicides in factories or road collisions involving self-driving cars.

1. Keeping super-smart weapons systems under human control

2. Making AI systems explain their decisions to humans in excruciating detail

3. Aligning the interests of machines and humans

4. Teaching machines about human behaviors and values

5. Ensuring an economic future where humans still have jobs

All of these winning AI grant proposals hint at the complex ethical and philosophical questions at the heart of AI. They also suggest that the real question is not about machines, but rather, about humans. Will we be smart enough to design an AI future that is “robust and beneficial”?

There are several paragraphs under each of the 5 headings above in the article as well as videos and links: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/innovations/wp/2015/07/07/the-very-best-ideas-for-preventing-artificial-intelligence-from-wrecking-the-planet/?wpisrc=nl_tech&wpmm=1

Ray,IN · July 12, 2015

Heavy reading, but quite captivating. Thanks Derek. This caused me to recall an old saying "along with power comes responsibilities", and it's apparent these men are stepping up.