2.0.5 Future considerations

Course subject(s) Module 2. Open up your mind

We already live in a time where artificial intelligence is everywhere, but what are things we will need to consider in the future? There has been much discussion of what robots and AI can and cannot, should and should not, be able to do.

In the future, even more so than now, AI and robotics will be involved in life or death decisions — whether it is in the medical domain, self-driving cars or advanced warfare. To what degree should we allow our machines to make autonomous decisions?

These systems will become more and more capable, to the point where they might displace human workers and perhaps even humans altogether. What will be the effect of ever more capable automation on employment and inequality? And how can we stay in control of artificial superintelligence that is smarter than us in every way?

We typically feel that other people and often animals have certain rights — that we should (not) treat them in certain ways — where the degree of deservingness tends to correlate with their intelligence or similarity to us. If we develop artificial general intelligence that matches or exceeds human intelligence, do we have any moral obligations towards it? Can AI be conscious some day?

Take some time to ponder these questions, and then watch Jordi Bieger, AI Researcher at Delft University of Technology and PhD Candidate at Reykjavik University, discuss future considerations about autonomy, superintelligence and consciousness.

You can discuss your ideas on the future of AI with your peers in the discussion thread below.

Also, check out and join the MOOD discussion on superintelligence after working through the resources, click here.

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Mind of the Universe: Robots in Society - Blessing or Curse by TU Delft OpenCourseWare is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at https://online-learning.tudelft.nl/courses/mind-of-the-universe-robots-in-society-blessing-or-curse/.
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