Friend: Hey, Ajay! I wanted to ask you something
Ajay: Sure! Go on.
Friend: Do you think robots would take over one day?
Ajay: You mean the rise of the robots and enslavement of humans? I would say an interesting plot for a story.
Friend: So you think it’s not going to happen?
Ajay: Not the way you put it. But I recently read a book called Scary Smart by Mo Gawdat and it piqued my interest. It says AI will be a billion times more intelligent than humans.
Friend: And that doesnt scare you?
Ajay: Lets try to see it this way. Who created AI?
Friend: Humans.
Ajay: Exactly. AI might not be a living being. But it is intelligent and smart. It learns and understands based on the inputs we give them. But who gives these inputs?
Friend: Again, us. Humans.
Ajay: Correct. Unfortunately the human world is imperfect and we humans are flawed. Which means our biases, prejudices and discriminatory attitudes will reflect in AI too. Reading that along with the prediction that AI is going to be billion times faster than us in a few years, doesnt paint a very rosy picture of the future.
Friend: So, in some sense we are creating a Frankensteins monster.
Ajay: Well, I believe in a bright future. And we know AI is here to stay. So, it all depends on how we decide to treat and nurture AI. How a person turns out to be as an adult depends a lot on how s/he was raised, right? This is applicable to AI also and what we decide to feed it.
Friend: You are right.
Ajay: My point is, the future is being built by us, not by AI. Its only a tool. So, its totally up to us as to what kind of future we want for ourselves and for the future generations. If we decide to choose compassion and respect for each other, the same would reflect in AI and that would translate into building a great world for everyone.