A former executive at Google said that artificial intelligence-powered machines could one day view humans as “scum” and could create “killing machines” similar to the ones depicted in a sci-fi movie starring Will Smith.
Mo Gawdat, who held the position of chief business officer for Google’s clandestine research-and-development arm X, said that he is fearful of a future scenario in which AI decides it needs to destroy the human race, though that day is still “a bit far away.”
Gawdat said that the future could look like something from “I, Robot,” the 2004 film in which Smith battles a machine army that hatches a conspiracy to enslave the human race.
AI could create these terminators because it will be able to “generate its own computer power and do installations itself through robotic arms.”
“It does have the agency to create killing machines because humans are creating them so AI might use it to dictate an agenda like the movie ‘I, Robot’,” Gawdat told the Secret Leaders podcast.
Gawdat said AI could form a low opinion of humanity because the technology scours social media.
“The question would be probabilities — how likely is AI to think of us as scum today?” Gawdat asked before answering: “Very high.”
“We’re fake on social media, we’re rude, we’re angry, or we’re lying on social media,” he added.
Gawdat also insisted it is too late for humans to undo the advancements in AI because tech companies are too invested in it financially to turn back.
“Very prominent scientists and business leaders are saying, ‘Let’s halt the development of AI,’” he said
“But this will never happen, not because of tech issues but because of the business dilemma,” Gawdat continued.
“If Google is developing AI and fears Facebook will beat them they will not stop because they have absolute certainty that if they stop, someone else will not.”
“The US will not stop because they know China is developing AI.”
“We built a human system, not a tech system, that will prevent us from stopping.”
Tech mogul Elon Musk has warned that AI has “dangerous” potential that could threaten civilization if it went unchecked.
“AI is more dangerous than, say, mismanaged aircraft design or production maintenance or bad car production,” Musk told Fox News last month.
“In the sense that it has the potential — however small one may regard that probability, but it is non-trivial — it has the potential of civilization destruction,” Musk added.