Our Top 5 Talks On Artificial Intelligence
Worried the robots might be coming for your job? Unclear about the future implications of Artificial Intelligence?
Like most people, you are probably aware of the growing significance of AI and understand that it's a divisive topic that occupies the minds of some of the world’s greatest philosophers, computer scientists, and entrepreneurs.
Whilst it’s clear that AI is already making some positive impacts on our lives like improving the accuracy of breast cancer diagnosis, it also poses a potential future threat to mankind when it surpasses human intelligence.
Where are we now? Where might we be heading?
To help bring you up-to-speed, here are 5 great talks on AI:
1. What happens when our computers get smarter than we are?
Artificial intelligence is getting smarter by leaps and bounds -- within this century, research suggests, a computer AI could be as "smart" as a human being. And then, says Nick Bostrom, it will overtake us: "Machine intelligence is the last invention that humanity will ever need to make." A philosopher and technologist, Bostrom asks us to think hard about the world we're building right now, driven by thinking machines. Will our smart machines help to preserve humanity and our values -- or will they have values of their own?
2. Can a computer pass a university entrance exam?
Meet Todai Robot, an AI project that performed in the top 20 percent of students on the entrance exam for the University of Tokyo -- without actually understanding a thing. While it's not matriculating anytime soon, Todai Robot's success raises alarming questions for the future of human education. How can we help kids excel at the things that humans will always do better than AI?
3. The wonderful and terrifying implications of computers that can learn.
What happens when we teach a computer how to learn? Technologist Jeremy Howard shares some surprising new developments in the fast-moving field of deep learning, a technique that can give computers the ability to learn Chinese, or to recognise objects in photos, or to help think through a medical diagnosis. (One deep learning tool, after watching hours of YouTube, taught itself the concept of "cats.") Get caught up on a field that will change the way the computers around you behave ... sooner than you probably think.
4. Can we build AI without losing control over it?
Scared of superintelligent AI? You should be, says neuroscientist and philosopher Sam Harris -- and not just in some theoretical way. We're going to build superhuman machines, says Harris, but we haven't yet grappled with the problems associated with creating something that may treat us the way we treat ants.
5. 3 myths about the future of work.
"Will machines replace humans?" This question is on the mind of anyone with a job to lose. Daniel Susskind confronts this question and three misconceptions we have about our automated future, suggesting we ask something else: How will we distribute wealth in a world when there will be less -- or even no -- work?
Note: All talk descriptions above are taken from TED.com
