Maybe, it is just my stupidity. But after watching the following movies, I became greatly concerned about the growth of today's artificial intelligence development.
I, Robot
Artificial Intelligence – A.I
The Matrix
In addition to all these, came the news about a new robot having some basics of emotions, developed by some scientists. They adapt themselves with their masters such that, if two robots of the same make are brought by two very different individuals, they will soon differ in their behavior.
From basic robots that does monotonic works in industries, we have developed robots that have emotions. This pace of technology is somewhat alarming. So far, we've considered robots as machines that are programmed to do tasks that are either difficult for humans to perform, or to ease our work load. But now, the scenario has changed a bit. Now, robots are more and more human, both in structure & behavior.
Swarm intelligence is a developing area in robotic development. It is the collective intelligence of a group of robots. Robots team up together to do various chores in a collective way. This is no science fiction. Many prototypes are in the early stages of development. Of course, it has a lot of advantages. But, it is like a double edged sword. It can harm those who handle it.
We shouldn't discard these films as wild imaginations. They are more of a prophesy. We shouldn't let them happen. The 3 laws of robotics guarantee a safe future for us. But, what if the robots get more cunning than we expected and rebel against us? Will we be any match for them? Does intelligent man + un-intelligent machines be equal to intelligent machines?
In the pretext of making our lives more comfortable, we are making everything around us intelligent. And the alarming fact is that, they are also able to communicate, but now, with a server machine. What if the control system goes awry? Machines communicating among themselves. We can't hear them plotting against us. We can't eavesdrop, because, here too we need the help of machines. This sounds like total chaos. We are stranded, helpless in the midst of our own creations, looking for a way out.
Some thing is surely weird. Is it the technical brilliance that may suffocate us in the near future with it's sheer intelligence, or is it my random, but foolish thoughts about a coming face of technology that will brighten up our lives. Are my fears un-necessary? Or, did I just over react to the innovative ideas of some film makers? I don't know the answer now. But, soon we all will know!!
