The future will probably be awesome, but at present, artificial intelligence (AI) poses some questions, and most often they have to do with morality and ethics. How has machine learning already surprised us? Can you trick a machine, and if so, how difficult is it? And will it all end up with Skynet and rise of the machines? Let\u2019s take a look.<\/p>\n
First, we need to differentiate between two concepts: strong and weak AI. Strong AI is a hypothetical machine that\u2019s able to think and is aware of its own existence. It can solve not only tailored tasks, but also learn new things.<\/p>\n
Weak AI already exists. It is in applications made to solve specific problems, such as image recognition, car driving, playing Go, and so on. Weak AI is the thing we call \u201cmachine learning.\u201d<\/p>\n
We don\u2019t know yet whether strong AI can be invented. According to expert surveys<\/a>, we\u2019ll have to wait another 45 years. That really means \u201csomeday.\u201d For example, experts also say fusion power will be commercialized in 40 years \u2014 which is exactly what they said 50 years ago.<\/p>\n It\u2019s still unclear when strong AI will be developed, but weak AI is already here, working hard in many areas. The number of those areas grows every year. Machine learning lets us handle practical tasks without obvious programming; it learns from examples. For more details, see \u201cHow machine learning works, simplified<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n We teach machines to solve concrete problems, so the resulting mathematical model \u2014 what we call a \u201clearning\u201d algorithm \u2014 can\u2019t suddenly develop a hankering to defeat (or save) humanity. In other words, we shouldn\u2019t be afraid of a Skynet situation from weak AI. But some things could still go wrong.<\/p>\n If we teach an army of drones to kill people using machine learning, can the results be ethical?<\/p>\nWhat could go wrong?<\/h2>\n
1. Bad intentions<\/h3>\n