'Society and Culture' "2062 The World That AI Made"

A student in S. Australia asked me some questions about the future of AI for her 'Society and Culture' assignment. In case the answers are of wider interest, I thought to share them here.

1. What are the benefits of Artificial Intelligence?

To improve the well being of all of the planet, not just our economic well being, but our environmental and societal well being. To grow our economy, but at the same time, use the planet in a more sustainable way and tackling fundamental societal challenges like increasing inequality.

2. What concerns do people in society have regarding Artificial Intelligence?

There are many concerns. The Chapter headings of my new book, "2062: The World that AI Made" give clues: "The End of Us", "The End of Politics", "The End of Privacy", "The End of War" ...

3. What recommendations can you give to people who are 'scared' that one-day Artificial Intelligence can replace humans? (E.G. Robots replacing people's jobs).

AI will one day be Augmenting Intelligence. We've always used to tools to do more. To go faster than we can run. Now we can use computers to think "better" than we can. 

4. What are the different types of Artificial Intelligence?

There are two main schools of AI: symbolic or logical AI based on a logical rule like representations, and neuro symbolic AI such as neural networks

5. How far can Artificial Intelligence go into our world in 10 years?

Imagine how the smartphone has changed the planet in just over a decade. The iPhone came out in 2007. Now double or triple it. It will be woven into the fabric of our everyday lives.

6. Why do we need Artificial Intelligence?

It is the operating system of all our future devices. We'll just talk to them, and they will respond and do whatever we ask. 

By 2062 we will have built machines as intelligent as us—so the leading artificial intelligence and robotics experts predict. But what will this future look like?

In 2062, world-leading researcher Toby Walsh considers the impact AI will have on work, war, economics, politics, everyday life, and, indeed, even human death. Will automation take away most jobs? Will robots become conscious and take over? Will we become immortal machines ourselves, uploading our brains to the cloud? How will politics adjust to the post-truth, post-privacy digitized world? When we have succeeded in building intelligent machines, how will life on this planet unfold? What lies in store for homo digitalis—the people of the not-so-distant future who will be living amongst fully functioning artificial intelligence?

Based on a deep understanding of technology, 2062 describes the choices we need to make today to ensure that the future remains bright.