Did you know what could be the direst threat of the 21st century? It could be terrorism or new strain of lethal viruses. But for bestselling historian Yuval Noah Harari, smarter artificial intelligence could be one of 21st century's direst threats.
Today, artificial intelligence is not merely a product of science fiction. In fact, the ever-evolving field of AI has proven its pervasiveness in most if not all field of sciences, making entrepreneurs and innovators invest more time and money on AI-driven programs and platforms.
Artificial Intelligence Vs. Humanity 2.0
Despite the usefulness of artificial intelligence in healthcare, education, businesses and becoming a "meta-solution" to the biggest issues of the society, many experts have warned about its impact on humanity. According to international bestselling author of "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" and Jerusalem's Hebrew University lecturer Yuval Noah Harari, the rise of AI could create a class of "useless" humans.
In Harari's new book titled, "Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow," the author claimed humans will be outperformed by artificial intelligence-driven robots in terms of employment. Harari said as humans gain godlike powers and morph into omnipotent and omniscient masters of the universe, they could also end up jobless and aimless.
Artificial Intelligence To Create 'Useless' Humans
As Harari said, the rise of the "useless" human will be one of the direst threats of the 21st century, noting smarter artificial intelligence could overtake humans in the job market. He also revealed that humans have two kinds of ability that make them useful - the physical and cognitive skills, The Guardian notes.
With cognitive skills, humans were largely safe in their work. Unfortunately, Harari said artificial intelligence is starting to outperform humans in the cognitive field.
"I'm aware that these kinds of forecasts have been around for at least 200 years, from the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, and they never came true so far. It's basically the boy who cried wolf," Harari said. "But in the original story of the boy who cried wolf, in the end, the wolf actually comes, and I think that is true this time."
In spite of the fact that jobless humans do not necessarily mean they are useless, Harari stressed he used the term "useless" from the economic and political system perspectives. He also emphasized to take the threats of artificial intelligence seriously, saying scientists don't have "the vision and the legitimacy" to decide humanity's future.
Malevolent Artificial Intelligence
The potential creation of a malevolent artificial intelligence could pose a serious threat to humanity. Since this threat became a hotly debated issue, AI safety has emerged as a significant discipline, where computer scientists started to analyze the unintended consequences of poorly designed AI systems.
Unfortunately, independent researchers Federico Pistono and Roman Yampolskiy from the University of Louisville in Kentucky said nothing has been published on how to design a malevolent machine. Hence, computer security scientists could face a challenge as they must understand what they are up against before defeating it, MIT Technology Review reveals.
Can Humans Outsmart Artificial Intelligence?
If Harari fears artificial intelligence could outsmart humans, there are steps that could reportedly outsmart AI. According to Inc., there are six steps to becoming 10 times smarter with artificial intelligence but before anything else, authors Atanu Basu and Michael Simmons said humans should fix the misconceptions of artificial intelligence.
