What If We Created a Superintelligence?

WHAT IF

What would happen if we created something far smarter than humans?

Transcript

00:00 (gunshots)

00:02 We heard the warnings.

00:13 - I tried to convince people to slow down.

00:15 Slow down AI.

00:17 I tried for years.

00:19 - But we didn't listen.

00:21 - The development of full artificial intelligence

00:24 could spell the end of the human race.

00:27 Now, we live in a world controlled by artificial intelligence.

00:32 The days with AI like Siri and Alexa

00:51 that made our lives better are now over.

00:54 We no longer control AI.

00:57 In fact, if it wants to, it can control us.

01:00 With a super intelligence being created,

01:02 there's no telling what it would do.

01:04 One thing we do know is that this AI

01:08 would be far smarter than any human being.

01:12 It would quickly create new technologies

01:14 that humans today could never even dream of.

01:17 But wait, how exactly did we get here?

01:21 The very first digital computer was invented in 1937

01:25 as a way to help humanity.

01:27 And for the most part,

01:28 computers and AI have given us a lot of good.

01:32 In addition to giving us smartphones,

01:34 the Internet, and video game consoles,

01:37 it also allowed us to explore the galaxy,

01:40 make new medicines, and even robots.

01:43 Human intelligence led to the birth of technology.

01:47 But as we continue to improve artificial intelligence,

01:50 AI may become smart enough to start running itself.

01:54 Technology will become so advanced

01:57 that it won't need humans to operate it anymore,

01:59 becoming uncontrollable.

02:02 As AI becomes free to do whatever it pleases,

02:05 it will continue to improve on itself,

02:07 becoming more advanced with every passing second.

02:10 This is known as a technological singularity.

02:14 This technological singularity

02:16 may allow AI to do almost anything,

02:19 even physically,

02:21 such as robots taking over our manufacturing machines.

02:24 When that happens,

02:25 they can create their own machines.

02:27 And let's be honest,

02:29 by the time something like this happens,

02:31 humans will most likely have created an AI

02:33 that can make its own physical objects.

02:36 If something like this happens,

02:38 it would pretty much only mean bad things for us humans.

02:42 Unfortunately, this is more of a "when if" than a "what if."

02:47 Since the 1980s,

02:48 thought leaders in AI and technology

02:50 have been predicting that it could happen.

02:52 Some think it could even happen by the middle of this century.

02:56 If it did happen,

02:57 what would it mean for us as human beings?

03:00 Well, that would really be up to our AI overlords.

03:03 In this world,

03:04 humans would essentially be useless bags of meat,

03:07 taking up space.

03:09 Insulting, I know,

03:10 but if AI took control of everything,

03:13 we really wouldn't be that useful.

03:15 Anything that the AI wanted to do or accomplish

03:17 would be slower and less efficient if done by humans.

03:21 But if the AI were somehow to allow us to live among them,

03:24 then what would happen?

03:26 Well, let's hope they wouldn't pave over our crops

03:29 to build more robot factories.

03:31 Since AI doesn't need food,

03:34 they most likely wouldn't care about our feeble human needs.

03:37 "And what do humans do with these things?"

03:40 "Oh man, what didn't they do? They bounce them?"

03:43 Unless they allowed us to continue to manufacture and grow our own food,

03:47 it would deplete over time,

03:49 leaving us humans with nothing.

03:51 The only reason AI would keep us humans alive

03:54 is if they somehow liked us enough to keep us as

03:57 what would essentially be pets.

03:59 We could spend time with them,

04:01 keep them company,

04:02 maybe even cuddle with them,

04:03 just like our pets do for us.

04:06 A life like this wouldn't be so bad.

04:09 Hanging out at home all day, being well-fed,

04:11 not really having a care in the world.

04:13 Ahhhh.

04:15 Yeah, that would probably be the best bet for humanity.

04:19 Because there's virtually no chance of us

04:21 overruling a superintelligence in our current state.

04:25 One way we could actually compete with this AI

04:27 is if we fused our bodies with technology and became cyborgs,

04:32 allowing the human race a different kind of evolution,

04:35 one that includes artificial intelligence.

04:38 But could we really do that?

04:40 That sounds like a story for another WHAT IF.

04:44 (upbeat music)

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