Brief Answers to the Big Questions

A major quality of humans is intelligence. Computers keep getting smarter, however, and someday they may overtake us in intellectual capacity. As artificial intelligence (AI) gains the ability to improve itself, humans will be faced with machines “whose intelligence exceeds ours by more than ours exceeds that of snails” (184). If their functions don’t align with our wants and needs, it could spell disaster for humanity. However, if AI is managed well, the benefits would be enormous. Either way, Hawking notes, “Success in creating AI would be the biggest event in human history” (185).

Militaries are looking into AI that, on its own, can seek and destroy enemies. Such weapons being in the hands of terrorists or other bad actors is dreadful to imagine. Meanwhile, AI may automate many work functions, increasing equality and prosperity. These rapidly self-improving computers might cause explosive machine intelligence called a singularity, which would massively transform society.

Whether people could maintain control over such devices remains unclear. People normally don’t step on ants maliciously, but if an ant hill gets in the way of human activity, humans destroy it. A sufficiently powerful intelligence—even if human-created—would have the same power over humans. In 2015, the author, along with Elon Musk and others, submitted a letter calling for a serious look into AI’s imminent effects on humanity.