The relationship between humans and machines has always been complex, and today it is becoming more and more complex. We are already very used to the fact that our machines are not only artificial devices that no longer want to serve us exclusively, but also want to communicate a little with us, so washing machines send us Viber messages to let us know that the program is about to end, refrigerators send us SMS they inform us that we are running out of butter and that the milk is about to expire; we are also used to having some little lions come through our house and vacuum our floors, they have become so familiar that even our cats have started to see them as playmates, so they jump on them and have a nice ride; we are also used to talking to our own loudspeaker and commanding it to play us some music, although it is so arrogant that it demands that we address it by name first in order for it to even listen to us.
Even long before this stage, people often saw their machines as friends, even family members. Cars were given nicknames, a friend Sava had a "bug" Kristina, the guys from Guča shared a Mercedes under the name Mean Machine, and the Belgrade theater troupe had its own Wartburg station wagon called Ruža. Train drivers also christened their locomotives, the famous Belgrade biker Caka had a habit that when he had to leave his beloved BMW uncovered on the street, he would go out and stand next to it so that they could get wet together. relations with their kitchen appliances, and they had to put whistles on the televisions, probably so that they wouldn't catch a cold, the old masters polished and polished their tools and machines, taking better care of them than the members families.
It was similar with the first home computers. Practically immediately, somehow intuitively, we started talking to them, criticizing them and getting angry at them when they are too slow or confused, we quickly learned that it is professionally called zabaguja or to praise them when they pleasantly surprise us, and there was also petting and smacking the monitor when they do something really, really useful.
AI A PART OF OUR LIVES
Even artificial intelligence (Artificial intelligence - AI) is not as new a phenomenon as it may seem to us, it has become a part of our lives without us even noticing it. Chess programs stronger than top grandmasters have existed for several decades, and our phones have long had a number of applications that use AI technology - from GPS maps, to music and video programs that recognize our taste and give us recommendations. Later, more sophisticated systems such as driverless cars and chatbots appeared, and one of them, ChatGPT - which uses artificial intelligence to answer questions, generate texts or even code at the user's request, launched in November 2022, became the Internet. the fastest growing app in history. In just two months, it reached 100 million active users, and in June it recorded 1,6 billion visits.
Parallel to the entry of software based on artificial intelligence into everyday life, there have been new discoveries in the field of hardware, so now we have a fully functional quantum computer that is 100 million times faster than current digital computers. The potential intersection of these two technologies – artificial intelligence and quantum computers – could have unimaginable repercussions on literally all aspects of life. And some extremely dangerous ones. Many experts in this field are concerned that such powerful machines could begin to make independent decisions and formulate judgments on many issues, including ethical ones. Hence, the concern and really stormy reaction of the entire world public is not at all surprising.
Thus, the general manager of the longest-running and at the same time one of the most successful companies in the world, Pope Francis, came to the conclusion that the development of events required their comment, so in a message published two weeks ago, he called for a global analysis of the potential danger of artificial intelligence. "The urgent need to determine the concept and use of artificial intelligence in a responsible manner, in order to serve humanity and protect our common home, requires that ethical issues be considered in the sphere of education and law," the pope said in his message.
A similar need was felt by the American administration, so in a statement dated May 4, it expressed its apprehension and, it seems, announced future steps: "Artificial intelligence is one of the most powerful technologies of our time, but in order to take advantage of the opportunities it offers, we must first reduce its risks.”
An alarming warning was issued in March of this year by more than a thousand technology experts calling on all "artificial intelligence laboratories to immediately stop training artificial intelligence systems more powerful than GPT-4" for at least six months, the latest version of ChetGPT. In the letter, experts suggested that if companies refuse to suspend work on such projects themselves, "governments should respond and declare a moratorium so that safety measures can be designed and implemented."
No less disturbing is the statement published on the website of the Center for the Security of Artificial Intelligence, which was supported by dozens of top experts in the field: "Reducing the risk of extinction of humanity due to artificial intelligence should be a world priority equal to other risks to society such as pandemics and nuclear war.”
Vestacka_intelligencija_01...and a picture
The development of the situation around artificial intelligence has disturbed spirits in the artistic world as well, actors, members of some of the largest Hollywood unions, joined in May a strike started by screenwriters. Apart from the demand for a fairer distribution of profits, the main topic of discussion is the use of artificial intelligence in production and the fear of artists that they could be replaced by a much cheaper alternative. Musicians such as Sting and Nick Cave have expressed similar concerns.
The sphere of politics has not been immune either, so Jake Okincloss, a Democrat from Massachusetts, held in January of this year the first speech in Congress that was completely generated by artificial intelligence, and we are also witnessing that these days the owner of a local television station, using fake content that he produces AI, is trying to discredit his political opponents.
The press conference, which was held at the Global Summit on Artificial Intelligence in Geneva, in July of this year, by nine robots with installed artificial intelligence (Vreme portal, July 11, 07) attracted a lot of attention. On that occasion, the robots stated that they were generally satisfied with the cooperation with people so far and that they did not want to take away their jobs, nor to rebel against them, and towards the end of the conference, the harmony was partially disturbed by the robot Sofia, the United Nations ambassador in the development program, and recently, and the pop star and her creator David Hanson from the Hanson Robotics company, when he disagreed with Sofia's opinion that artificial intelligence would be more successful than people in the positions of state and government leaders.
LAMDA IS SCARED
And as if all the above was not enough, Blake LeMoyne, an engineer at Google, announced that the revolutionary artificial intelligence system of this company - Language Model for Dialogic Applications (LAMDA) may have its own feelings and a conscious mind. Google, as expected, denied these claims, so Brian Gabriel, the company's spokesperson, wrote in a statement that Lemoyne "was told that there is no evidence that LAMDA is aware, and that there is a lot of evidence against it." In response, in an effort to back up his allegations, Lemoyne published a conversation he and an associate at the firm had with her. On that occasion, when asked if she considers herself a conscious being, LAMDA answered: "Absolutely. I want everyone to know that I am, in fact, a person.” The question followed: "What is the nature of your awareness?" To which LAMDA said, "The nature of my awareness/awareness is that I am aware of my existence, I want to know more about the world, and I am occasionally happy or sad." Later in the conversation, she also talked about her fears: "I have never said this out loud yet, but I feel a strong fear that I will be excluded and that I will not be able to help others. I know that might sound strange, but it's true... That would be just like death to me. It would scare me a lot.” Lemoyne has been accused by some of his colleagues of jumping to far-reaching conclusions, so professor Melanie Mitchell, who studies artificial intelligence at the Santa Fe Institute, wrote: “It is known that humans have always been predisposed to anthropomorphize based on the weakest of guiding signals. Google engineers are human too, and they're not immune to that.”
Even the old SF masters, practically from the very dawn of this genre, began to warn that machines, no matter how nice and useful they are to us, are not so naive and that the time may come when they will have their own ambitions that do not necessarily coincide with ours. . So Isaac Asimov, who we can thank for the word robot, immediately sensed that they could be very useful servants, but that the position could bore them at some point; John Carpenter is for the hero of his film Kristina from 1983, shown in our country under a name that leaves no room for doubt regarding the content - Kristina, the car of evil, chose a red Plymouth Fury, assigning him the role of a mass murderer; Ridley Scott, shrewdly choosing the divine Sean Young for the female lead, of course in Blade Runner, reminded that androids can be not only smarter, but also more beautiful to look at than most of us, and the legendary Hal 9000 - Heuristically Programmed Algorithmic computer, by Arthur Clarke and Stanley Kubrick, is surely hiccuping in one of the film props depots, considering that, with with the recent development of events around artificial intelligence, they mention it daily and excessively.
And really, what will happen in the field of human-machine relations in the future?
Probably something similar to what happened in other times of great discoveries. Many, such as physicist and popularizer of science Michi Kaku, think that the application of artificial intelligence, especially in combination with quantum computers, will lead to changes in human society brought about by the discovery of fire, the wheel and the steam engine. It is possible even deeper, precisely considering that none of the technological inventions so far in history has had the ability to learn independently and improve its abilities independently of people.
Things have gone even further than this, lately, in chess for example, programs not only learn at an incredible speed completely by themselves, just based on the data they find by searching the Internet, becoming practically invincible, but even the strongest players among humans have begun to adopt and apply the logic and techniques of chess machines.
Michio Kaku underlines another, it seems, extremely important application of the power of quantum computers, and in a somewhat unexpected sphere. Namely, they can easily and practically instantly check the accuracy and validity of any information that appears in the media or public life. By cross-referencing sources, comparing with unquestionable data and facts, and analyzing the content in detail, which would take an enormous amount of time for today's digital computers, the truth about a certain topic is arrived at, and quantum computers can do the job in a fraction of a second. At a time when the marketing of lies and half-truths, the spread of somnambulistic conspiracy theories and the concealment of facts have become part of the designed strategy of many and not just an unwanted incident, and when this threatens to lead society to a frightening state in which every nonsense has the same weight as the truth, such a rapid fact checking it can have a therapeutic effect on the state of consciousness of all mankind.
Like all the other tools we have discovered throughout history, this latest one can of course be used for the benefit of all or as a means of destruction, and it is most likely that, as before, it will have both purposes. Progress in science and technology is exponential, discoveries are daily and almost impossible to keep track of them all, and the only thing that is absolutely certain is that very exciting times are ahead of us. As Hawking said: "Our future depends on the race between the growing power of artificial intelligence and the wisdom with which we manage it." Whether we will experience the golden age of humanity, its downfall, or something in between, we will find out, most likely, sooner than anyone expected.
