We, as consumers, have reached a moment of change in our culture and our world when it comes to artificial intelligence (AI). It is a vast and ever-evolving experience that is already embedding itself in multiple aspects of everyday life. While it feels like true AI is years away, a recent interaction between chat bots have suggested otherwise.
To be clear: there is no SKYNET, no sentient robots, and no, we’re not in the Matrix; but scientists and tech-savvy CEOs like Elon Musk, Stephen Hawking, and Bill Gates have warned people to take AI seriously. There are, however, those with a more optimistic view. Facebook creator and CEO Mark Zuckerberg discussed his optimism around improving AI in a Facebook post:
Every time we improve our AI methods, all of these systems get better. I’m excited about all the progress here and its potential to make the world better.
Musk responded to Zuckerberg’s stance on AI on Twitter, stating that his understanding of AI is limited. Recently, it has been almost impossible to avoid articles regarding a recent breakthrough from Facebook’s AI department (FAIR) which reported its chat bots created their own language to talk to each other that humans were unable to understand.
We’re allowing it to drive cars, clean our houses, and cook our food. It’s constantly running in the background listening, learning, and then applying that new knowledge into being a better-functioning product. Whether that means it is predicting that this particular user prefers Fleetwood Mac over Pink Floyd, or something much more complicated like measuring the speeds of other cars while merging onto a highway without human interference. Where will you draw the line?