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Your life is about to change dramatically, but your wisdom can shape its direction.

Ever wonder how Google maps instantly adjust your travel time in different traffic conditions; or how Facebook shows you hotel ads no sooner than you have searched online for a holiday destination; or how Siri recognises your voice? AI is present in our lives in a bigger way than we realise; and it’s growing rapidly.

Machine learning will change the future

All these developments seem benign for the most part, even helpful in many ways. However, machine learning, a recent breakthrough in the field of AI, has the potential to dramatically alter the scope and potential of AI in the foreseeable future. For better and for worse.

The first stage of AI is to program something to execute certain tasks based on predetermined commands. For example, a robot in a car factory. At the next level, a machine, armed with a framework of rules, is trained to work through large amounts of information to make the most optimal recommendation. For example, a supercomputer that checks through innumerable options and selects the best chess move.

Machine learning is changing all that. Advanced machine learning relies on algorithms that have the ability to self-learn by observing patterns from humungous amount of random data and making informed decisions by themselves. It’s equivalent to a computer learning to play chess by itself. Learning from the quality of its decisions and outcomes, the machine progressively gets better at the task. Facial and voice recognition and driverless-cars increasingly rely on this.

The real game changer

As AI machines or robots continue to improve on their decision-making and build stronger cognitive ability, it is envisageable that one day they would be more intelligent than humans. The AI world refers to this milestone as Singularity. This would be the tipping point of an exponential rise in the power of self-learning machines.

While there are varying views on how soon Singularity would be possible, Ray Kurzweil, a highly regarded futurist and director of engineering at Google, predicts it would happen by 2045. Past this threshold, humans may not be able to control the future development of AI, the AI-powered machines would.

The big issue

On the positive side, with their immense cognitive ability, the machines would be able to do several tasks better, faster and cheaper. However, here’s the rub.

For a majority of decisions, that require the machines to learn from existing data and patterns, they would be as biased as the data they study. This can be an issue when it involves human values, perceptions and preferences. If there’s a racial or a gender bias in comments online, the machines learning from this data are going to be biased. If people are judgmental, envious or aggressive in their interactions, machines would be so too.

In essence, as we approach the singularity state, the robots would be an exaggerated, and far more powerful, replica of the current humanity. Our goodness would get amplified, so would the evil.             

Needed: Real wisdom

To my mind, the premium and urgency for a self-aware and wiser society just went up manifold. It’s akin to how we need to be role models for our children to build their character. In this case, we are talking about bringing up super intelligent machines as children. Unless we demonstrate the right values and live a purposeful life, the machines of the future would not.

If humans are more caring, courageous, loving, authentic, mindful and compassionate, that’s what the machines learning human behavior would observe. If fear, anger, hate, greed, power or manipulation continue to guide us, that’s what would define the robots too. It is up to us to make the wiser choices – if only we are intentional about it and commit to bringing our best self to the world every day. That would be our biggest gift to the future generations. It’s both our privilege and our responsibility!

Rajiv Vij

https://www.rajivvij.com/2018/05/wisdom-for-the-age-of-ai.html