Could Artificial Intelligence Spell the End of the Human Race?

The artificial intelligence insurgence is an endlessly hot topic, with science experts, technology buffs and conspiracy theorists alike chiming in on the subject.  English theoretical physicist and cosmologist Professor Stephen Hawking is the latest high profile name to give his two cents, revealing to the BBC that he believes AI could be a serious threat to humanity.

“The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race,” he warns.

Widespread concern from bright minds

And it’s not just Hawking that’s concerned. His comments come in the wake of similar cautions from American automotive and energy storage company Tesla, and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.

“We need to be super careful with AI. Potentially more dangerous than nukes,” tweeted Musk in 2014.

Friend or foe?

So what prompted Hawking to make the controversial claims? His comments came in the context of new speech enabling technology, which actively predicts his words using stored usage pattern data. While he acknowledges the benefits, he predicts that AI could soon gain a life of its own…

“It would take off on its own, and re-design itself at an ever increasing rate. Humans, who are limited by slow biological evolution, couldn’t compete, and would be superseded,” he says.

Hawking reinforced these ideas in April, when he co-authored an article addressing the various risks of AI.

“Whereas the short-term impact of AI depends on who controls it, the long-term impact depends on whether it can be controlled at all,” he wrote.

Is it all overkill?

Of course, not everyone is on-board when it comes to the dystopian visions associated with AI. Other experts maintain that the risks are overblown, and that new developments within the AI landscape only serve to benefit humans on a global scale.

Charlie Ortiz, head of AI at Nuance Communications contradicts Hawking’s claims, reassuring the public that “I don’t see any reason to think that as machines become more intelligent … which is not going to happen tomorrow — they would want to destroy us or do harm. I’d like to think the opposite. As we become more intelligent, as a race we become kinder and more peaceful and treat people better.” 

While some may see AI as a threat, there’s no denying that it’s had immense benefits for the modern medicine. ‘Titration made faster, safer, and easier’ explores how intelligent integrated solutions are enabling custom configurations, with modular platforms like Metrohm serving as powerful robotic systems capable of performing up to four simultaneous analyses, and processing 175 samples, completely unattended.