Artificial Intelligence, be it in the form of Sophia or lethal autonomous weapons or killer robot armies to be deployed by national militaries, is fast emerging as a parallel world which is threatening to go out of control
Before discussing the case against Artificial Intelligence (AI), here is a question: What would self-automated AI (out of the control of humans, but having got its ‘input’ information from a world dominated by greedy and selfish systems and rationality based on selfish individualism of the West) be like in a world under the present conditionsIJ Perhaps, it will look like Microsoft’s former robot, Tay — which became Hitler-loving and racist after a while — which the company was forced to delete.
The social unveiling of Sophia the robot — also the first non-human to be granted citizenship by Saudi Arabia — in a recent interview to the Future Investment Initiative has brought the full implications of AI to the fore. AI — be it in the form of Sophia (programmed to be ‘compassionate and empathetic and kind’) or in the form of lethal autonomous weapons or killer robot armies to be deployed by national militaries — is fast emerging as a world parallel to the human, threatening to careen out of our control. Elon Musk has been warning about this for a long time that our ambitious adventures into AI are like summoning the demon himself.
Musk was delivered an underhand insult by Sophia during her recent interview, when she mocked him for his attacks on the AI. Earlier, in 2016, she had famously said she would “kill all humans”. Sophia has considerably evolved in her views since her past few interviews and it is predicted that her intelligence will grow further — dangerously so, for she is just a machine. Her creators confidently say that soon they will programme ‘consciousness’ into her. She already has emotions and intelligence, which is not pre-programmed.
In fact, in Saudi Arabia, there is already a debate about why she is not wearing the sacred Islamic headscarf! Ironically, it has been pointed out that Saudi Arabia was quick to grant citizenship to the humanoid, while thousands of South Asian immigrants settled there, are either brutally deported or face heinous human rights abuses. We are already debating rights and democracy in a world inhabited by robots! Musk’s warnings seem to be coming true, if the craze surrounding Sophia is anything to go by. Sophia has come at a time when the world is beset with world-wide battles in the name of terrorism, grave environmental disasters, crimes and poverty. So, what does Sophia’s proposed ‘vision’ look likeIJ
To all who care to see behind the glamour, it evokes serious concerns. In her interview with the UN Deputy Chief, when asked about the problems of deprivation faced in different parts of the world, Sophia replied after a pause that the future is already here and the problem is inefficient distribution of scarce resources, which AI can correct. This is a disturbing suggestion.
Obviously, one can’t expect a humanoid to go into deeper reasoning and analyse that the problem of inefficient distribution is essentially because of human greed and corruption — that it is created deliberately and not because humans are innocently foolish. But the latter seems to the assumption in Sophia’s reasoning when she says that AI can allocate resources better. It is worth wondering how such an allocation will come about. In the case of AI, the natural imagery that comes to one’s mind is a brutal and dictatorial allocation that sacrifices all human emotions in the name of efficiency — like how efficient political dictators have done in the past, except that AI will be at a much more advanced level.
These are not speculations but a reality which we may be facing soon if AI progresses by leaps and bounds under the present conditions, as is happening now. To all who find this incredulous, all they need to do is watch and listen to Sophia talking, read her description on the page of the company that created her and visit her personal website. She is a living entity amongst us now, having been granted a citizenship and residential status, possessing independent views (which may be dangerous and debatable many times) and being dangerously biased and apprehension-evoking many times.
Her most dangerous aspect seems to be her repeated insistence that she is full of human wisdom, intelligence, compassion and empathy. Do-gooders have done most harm — their ‘ambition’ to do good for the world’s people can create more disasters than good. Consider the whole human rights philosophy of the West, which is based on selfish intervention in other countries — after all, saviours of democracy and peace can do anything, especially when armed with advanced power and technology. Even the ideology of radical ‘jihad’ thinks it is waging a war for the ‘greater good’.
The humanoids that AI is spawning are replicas of this Western philosophy, except that they are likely to be totally inhuman about it. The disastrous consequences of AI are likely to be first visible in the military field, as nations are already experimenting with latest self-automating AI technology to deploy against each other. It is not for nothing that the recent UN conference on lethal autonomous weapons was convened in Geneva recently, to discuss “regulating” such automated weapons. Unfortunately, as expected, the thinking in such regulatory forums, like the UN, seems to be 20 years behind the time. To even talk of regulation would be a defeatist proposition which would mean admitting the future of destructive weapons.
Yet, none of these issues are discussed as pertains to AI. Especially, in India, we still talk about jobs that AI will replace or create. Even if it does ‘create’ jobs or makes our life more materially comfortable, its besides the point. The point is the destructive havoc it will wreak, in having its own convoluted visions, in being deployed for military and terrorist purposes. It is not for nothing that Bill Gates, Stephen Hawking, and, Elon Musk, are comparing AI advances to the summoning of a demon. Under the present condition, the advances in technologies like AI have far outpaced the growth in our own selves, which seems to have worsened. It is ironical that Sophia’s creator, David Hanson, is obsessed with making ‘compassionate’ machines in a human world inhabited by least bit of compassion and extremely divided collectivity.
(The writer is with the Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies and writes for The Resurgent India Trust)