This article touches upon far more than just ethics. It raises the question of whether it is wise to try to build artificial intelligence but also discusses why the challenge of building such a brain is so great.
“Advances in science often have made people uneasy, even angry, going back to Copernicus, who placed the sun — not the Earth — at the center of the universe. Artificial intelligence is particularly sensitive, because the brain and its ability to reason is what makes us human.
“In May 2014, cosmologist Stephen Hawking caused a stir when he warned that intelligent computers could be the downfall of humanity and ‘potentially our worst mistake in history.’ Elon Musk — the billionaire philanthropist who helped found SpaceX, Tesla Motors and PayPal — in October 2014 lamented that a program whose function is to get rid of e-mail spam may determine ‘the best way of getting rid of spam is getting rid of humans.’ He wasn’t joking.
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