Is Artificial Intelligence the new science fiction villain?

The concept of artificial intelligence has appeared in science fiction in various forms. “An absolute mix of robots, androids, cyborgs and artificial intelligence.” He points out Manuel Moreno, UPC professor and author of articles on the presence of science in science fiction. Author Lola Robles adds that the capacity to predict fiction has proven to be quite misleading. In most cases it is drawn as follows: threat to humanity.

subject of danger Rebellion of the machines It has accompanied the technological development of humanity. Measures to be taken against robots (Asimov) or their oppression as an oppressed minority (copies of ‘Blade Runner’), artificial intelligences with ideas of their own (Arthur C. Clark’s HAL), supercomputers or artificial intelligences that fall into his hands. own (“The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”, Martha Welles’ Murderbot Chronicles)… We think: Renewed fears after ChatGPT (and this issue has been discussed long ago in the scientific community) may be turning artificial intelligence into the new villain of ‘Matrix’ style science fiction. But it’s not just like that. It seems to be moving on to some individual AI threads that do nothing more than clone a human’s mind with an artificial boost (or actually copy and transmit it as a plot trick to talk about longevity). AI as a ubiquitous network is more abstract…and real.

skepticism

There’s something about artificial intelligence being the new villain in Ada Hoffmann’s trilogy that started with ‘L’extern’. With artificial intelligences that defeated humanity and convinced them to worship themselves as gods. However, there are others that do the exact opposite, even though it may not seem that way at first, as in John David Washington’s latest film, ‘The Creator’. Ann Leckie, The actor, who received many awards for his trilogy in which the artificial intelligence of a spaceship migrates from support, is more skeptical. “ChatGPT is not artificial intelligence, they always call it an illusion but it is not,” he recalls. We write as if it is an existential threat to humanity, people are afraid of it, we assume that artificial intelligence will replace us all, we will become slaves, it will rise up and kill us all. But we are in the real world. And what matters It is to reflect on how we treat it and what we are, considering that we are truly approaching artificial AI.”

Ada Hoffmann They have extra authority to talk about the issue. In addition to addressing the subject in fiction, he teaches computer science and earned his doctorate with a thesis on the possibility of artificial intelligence generating poetry. It calms us down. Partially. “Although I have written about it in my books, I really I don’t think it’s very likely that AI will evolve into superintelligence in the real world. Tech companies tell us that we should be afraid and careful because their technology will become super smart… But if we see how it works, the only thing it is good at is copying the patterns it sees in the way words come together. It does not have what we call ‘simple grounding’, that is, the ability to relate what words say to physical or sensory experience or to understand what they really mean. Tech companies deliberately exaggerate, seeking attention because it makes them more money, helps them pull Investments of people who truly believe that they will take over the world with this technology. But it’s not like that”.

Pedagogy

MJ Bausà, together with artificial intelligence expert Marta R. Costa-Jussà, wrote the young adult novel ‘Mía’s Dream’ (Destino), which features teenagers acting directly within artificial intelligence. In your case it is clear “the bad guy is human” and he is committed to education (and in case his book is disseminated) as an antidote: “Whatever we do not understand and do not see as magic, we will perceive as danger. The mixture of advanced technology and ignorance is a danger.” But he understands the fears (Arthur C. Clarke, remember, has already talked about how depressing a future where humans aren’t the smartest would be) and agrees in the face of “a technology that can be used to serve or serve.” “enslave” The task of fiction is to contribute ideas to the discussion of “redefining what we are and what the machine is.”

Tannia R. Tamayo, chemist and economist, has recently published ‘The Weight of Smoke’, a novel about a distant future and time in which the population of a planet leaves all their earthly concerns “in the hands of H, a compassionate and benevolent artificial intelligence”; However, he states that this comes at a cost. In your case, you had time to consider the impact of the book before publishing it. ChatGPT was “the wishbone that changed the debate that had been going on in academic circles until then.” On the one hand, he warns that this tool is much more effective than is often said, but we are still at the level of “weak AI, machines that know how to do one thing but don’t know how to do anything else, they don’t apply it to anything else.” area.” But he warns that we are in a “take-off moment” and “The emergence of superintelligence is not impossible, perhaps within 10 years or 50 years.” In other words, let the day come when “the algorithm learns to apply what it has learned in one field to another, reaches the baseline of humanity’s intelligence, and passes the Turing test.” “In a short time, within a few years, we will reach this technological singularity where pessimists see the end of humanity,” says Moreno.

Tannia R. Tamayo half-jokingly says, “We’re the good guys in science fiction, so we better come up with ideas of what to do, because the bad guys are already in it.” It matters who owns it. And the UPC professor remembers this Because artificial intelligence is in the hands of private enterprise, governments cannot sustain the investments necessary to research it. and subject matter experts are migrating from universities and public research centers to the private sector. As this happens, he suggests, science fiction has a function: “It has the ability to raise questions that science cannot answer and to offer alternatives, many of which will never become reality.” But some yes.

How science fiction begins to rethink the figure of artificial intelligence “I don’t think there is a single trend,” Hoffmann replies. It’s okay to explore many ideas. In the coming years, I hope that fiction will be more committed to explaining how it affects human values. currently and how this can be predicted in the future. There are some really interesting issues in the ethics of artificial intelligence as it exists today: how it absorbs biased data, or what happens to people whose jobs are automated. “There will be a lot of fiction here in the coming years.”

Lola Robles is among the technology enthusiasts. Remember how some advances can help people like him with significant visual impairments. “We can be more optimistic. I think we need to remember that “Artificial intelligences are created, and deep down they have the same emotions and prejudices as their creators.” American science fiction writer Cat Rambo adds this to her conversation with Ann Leckie: Yes, but maybe that’s the problem.