With the evolution of artificial intelligence, an AI expert claims that the day is not far when AI will surpass human control.
Prior to the widespread acceptance and use of generative AI, scientists, and theorists predicted that the technological singularity would be decades away.
However, with rising competition in this area from corporate behemoths such as Microsoft, Google, and Elon Musk’s xAI, Ben Goertzel, CEO of AI and blockchain developer SingularityNET, believes the dawn of artificial general intelligence (AGI) is only a matter of years, not decades.
“I would say now, three to eight years is my take, and the reason is partly that large language models like Meta’s Llama2 and OpenAI’s GPT-4 help and are genuine progress,” Goertzel told Decrypt.
“These systems have greatly increased the enthusiasm of the world for AGI, so you’ll have more resources, both money and just human energy—more smart young people want to plunge into work and work on AGI.”
What exactly is singularity?
A speculative point at which technological growth equals or surpasses human intelligence is referred to as the singularity.
The moment of singularity has the ability to drastically alter human civilization.
Experts have long speculated about the prospect of attaining singularity in the near future, arguing that human intelligence is fixed, but this is not the case for machines, since with the advancement and widespread use of AI, it can outperform us at any time.
Factors driving AI advancement
While emphasizing the key reason driving the creation of artificial intelligence, Geortzel stated that humanity’s restlessness was not just the driving force behind technological advancement but also the determinant for other huge transformations.
“Why did we develop agriculture and towns and cities instead of living in a stone age style?” he was quoted as saying by Decrypt. “According to some metrics, life has improved since Stone Age times, but according to other metrics, life has gotten worse—you didn’t have neuroses and mental illness like we do now.”
He then stated that the concept of AI was initially financed by the US military in the 1950s as a potential national defense tool.
However, he stated that recent advancements in this subject have been expedited by a variety of other factors.
“The ‘why’ for AI initially was partly curiosity, but probably military—the US military funded AI, from the ’50s up to the turn of the century,” Goertzel said. “So initially, the ‘why’ was national defense.
“Now the ‘why’ is making money for companies, but also, interestingly, for artists or musicians, it gives you cool tools to play with,” he added.
