STREET DOGS: Artificial intelligence
Something for those who worry about robots taking over
From Robert Provine Professor Emeritus, University of Maryland, on Edge.org Fear not the malevolent toaster, weaponised Roomba or larcenous ATM. Breakthroughs in the competence of machines, intelligent or otherwise, should not drive paranoia about a future clash between humanity and its mechanical creations. Humans will prevail, in part through primal, often disreputable qualities that are more associated with our downfall than salvation. Cunning, deception, revenge, suspicion and unpredictability befuddle less flexible and imaginative entities. Intellect isn’t everything and the irrational is not necessarily maladaptive. Irrational acts stir the neurological pot, nudging us out of unproductive ruts and into creative solutions. Our sociality yields a human superorganism with teamwork and collective, distributed intelligence. There are perks for being emotional beasts of the herd. Thought experiments about these matters are the source of practical insights into human and machine beha...
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