Isaac Pandyan
Allen High School STEAM Center
Advanced Computer Science II
Mr. Ben-Yaakov
August 26, 2022
AI will lead to...
Sentient Artificial intelligence will lead to underwhelming advantages and could possibly pose a threat to humanity.
Advantages?
When looking for the advantages of AI Sentience, I have come up empty. People say that it can help with the collection and analysis of data?
However, we already have machine-learning softwares that can spot even the most complicated of patterns. Optimists like to say that we will have robot servants that will do anything for us, but if they're sentient, why would they want to? Being in charge of your very own Sentient AI Robot would be like having a kid, but instead of them thinking that you have no idea what you're talking about, they would know you have no idea what you're talking about.
Threats?
In addition, people are concerned about what these Sentient AI's would be capable of. A primary concern, stoked by the likes of Elon Musk, is that our goals will not align with that of the AI, and thus,the AI will see a need to eliminate us in order to reach their goals (Metz, 2022). Though to be fair, this is complete science fiction, nobody is saying to give an AI a body and a gun to see what happens. In robotics, one of the central rules is that no robots should bring harm unto a human, granted, many governments don’t feel the need to take this one too seriously. However, governments themselves have a large interest in making sure that the AI don't decide to kill all humans, seeing as they are human themselves. In conclusion, while a robot rebellion against us is unlikely, the thought that it is still within the realm of possibility, is terrifying.
Is it Possible?
In addition, it seems doubtful that true sentience can ever be achieved artificially,
it's likely that there is something more to sentience then just the ability to recognize patterns. Whatever that "more" is can be decided upon by one's personal beliefs, but the fear people have that the story of AI Sentience will end like that of the Tower of Babel seems likely to stay for the forseeable future. Begging the question, if we keep trying to build up to God, how long until the tower falls down?
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