Future of AI interview with Dr. John Flackett

Read the full interview on devdiner.com

Artificial Super Intelligence (ASI)

Our Co-founder, Dr. John was recently interviewed by Caitlin Gardner a year 11 student at Cabra College, Adelaide, South Australia. Caitlin is researching into Artificial Super Intelligence and wanted to know what affect the creation of incredibly intelligence computers would have on the survival of the human species (a very big question!).

What is ASI?

Artificial Super Intelligence is the development of computer systems that far exceed human level intelligence.

Artificial Intelligence has gained a lot of popularity in recent years - especially in movies where AI is usually portrayed as leading to the downfall of humans (as it takes over the world). There has also been a lot of scaremongering with the media saying that well-known technologists and scientists (e.g., Stephen Hawking and Elon Musk) are really worried about AI – however you can read their open letter and see for yourself. In reality, the tech community is calling for more research into the ethical aspects of developing computers with superintelligence...

We recommend expanded research aimed at ensuring that increasingly capable AI systems are robust and beneficial: our AI systems must do what we want them to do.

[Open Letter: Research Priorities For Robust And Beneficial Artificial Intelligence]

It really isn't all doom & gloom, because advances in Artificial Intelligence will bring excting new opportunites to a wide range of jobs and help solve some of lifes most difficult problems (like getting a bus on time and to the right place!).

Want to know the current state of AI? 

During the interview with Caitlin, John attempts to answer some of the big questions surrounding Artificial Intelligence and discusses the incredible progress currently being made in this exciting area of computer science. His insights show that we have a long way to go before we start seeing "thinking machines" as we still only have computers that can do one thing well (weak-AI or narrow-AI). He then looks at how we might develop AI as clever as humans (strong-AI) and ultimately, Artificial Super Intelligence and what that might mean for the world.

You can read Dr. John’s full interview on Dev Diner (a well-known blog for emerging technology). If you have any comments or further questions, please get in touch with John – he'd love any feedback.

John would like to thank Caitlin for taking an interest in AI and asking insightful and interesting questions, and Dev Diner (a long-time friend of koolth) for publishing the full interview transcript. 

ARTICLE TAGS: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | ARTIFICIAL SUPER INTELLIGENCE (ASI) | CABRA COLLEGE | DR. JOHN FLACKETT | INTERVIEW | SOUTH AUSTRALIA | DEV DINER