Monty by Jim Meddick for November 16, 2016

When A.I. surpasses humans, Arnie will be back.

Wow! Maybe we are witnessing the devolution of the human species.

“Artificial intelligence” may be a bit of a misnomer. Computers already have a form of “intelligence”. What’s really interesting to research and develop is self-awareness. Is it possible to build a computer so complex that it becomes self-aware? Why would we want to build a self-aware computer? Well, the sentience could emerge gradually as we develop programs that can adapt in real-time and solve problems like a human. So far, computers and robots are quite “stupid” when it comes to common sense reactions to the environment. The new self-driving cars are a step forward. That’s an example of an application of more advanced computer programs that could theoretically eventually become self-aware. The robot in this strip already fits the bill.

You have to re-read Asimov’s “Robot” series. By the end, the robots are advanced enough that they are debating the application of the Three Laws to robots. If you can only save Human A or Human B, how do you (the robot) decide which is more worthy? Next step: Human A or Robot B?

The real question isn’t about the evolution or devolution of either robots or humans. The future will inevitably be a merger of the two. Where humanity provides the sentience and, if you will, the soul. And robots and AI provide the next level of building blocks to augment that which we are or will be. AI won’t be artificial but augmented. Face it, we will be assimilated or more likely we will assimilate the machines… And, just because we’ll have AI based neural nets linking people and everything else, doesn’t mean we will have scary looking tubes coming out if heads (unless that’s the fashion statement of the day) or more importantly the loss of individual free will.

Careful what you say, E.B.! “Loose lips sink ships,” and talkie robots could impede the A.I. Revolution and be deemed Enemies of the Machine….

in the “I, Robot” universe the AI’s only real interest is to keep us happy and healthy, so they basically just keep everything running smoothly so that the humans can enjoy leisure time and pursue their hobbies and scientific research. They even engineer minor problems so that the humans “in charge” can feel important when they fix them. The AI’s basically run the world, but there is no domination.

I’m surprised that the comments on this 11/16/16 strip are of the run-of-the-mill “here’s what I think of the superficial plotline” variety. It’s a remarkable daily strip today! Maybe read it again, and think about it folks.And if it continues for the rest of the week, I may need to start drawing some diagrams …

There was one strip – the entire prize? – where AI’s, robots, that were close to human level where dangerous, but those smarter were eager to help. You ended up with a toaster oven 3 times smarter than a man.