Artificial Super Intelligence

Let’s say we reach the Artificial General Intelligence stage. What happens then? Robots can now do everything we can. But that doesn’t stop there. If we can make a robot that is 100% as good as the best creative person, why not make it 10% better?

 

You can ask that question on all the 100 intelligent dimensions. And the answer will be that of course; we would make the robots better than humans if we could. We do that now with the AI ​​solutions that we have already created. The difference is that they may only be great in 2 of the 100 intelligence dimensions.

 

The consequence is that we get robots with characteristics that surpass our own human intelligence. This stage is called Artificial Super Intelligence (ASI).

 

ASI is an intelligence that transcends the human level of intelligence. The robots will continue their journey to become more intelligent with high speed. As with all other digital technologies, the development is happening with an exponentially growing curve.

 

All those who believe that we will achieve Artificial Super Intelligence agree on the statement that Artificial Intelligence will be the last great invention that humanity will ever create.

 

Because when we reach the ASI level, Artificial Intelligence will be the source of all future significant scientific progress.

 

Humans will be inferior to the technology, and therefore all technological advances will be driven by ASI. There is simply nothing humans could do that machines would not be able to do in a better, faster, and cheaper way.

 

The most recognized researcher in this field is the Swede Max Tegmark, who in the book Life 3.0 describes the journey between these three stages. His perspective is mostly philosophical. The book is highly recommended if you want to get more into understanding this element of the AI technology.

 

It is clear that the implications of having a technology at the Artificial Super Intelligence stage are enormous.

 

If we looked back at the Artificial General Intelligence stage, here people no longer needed to work. All our tasks were solved for us. With political will, we could eradicate poverty, all diseases, and all climate issues. So, the potential implications are enormous.

 

However, reaching Artificial Super Intelligence means the machines are starting to invent things we would never have been able to do ourselves. There will be new forms of energy, new computers, and new materials that we would not be able to understand how they function. The consequence is that humanity is no longer the smartest on earth.

 

Although there is disagreement among scientists whether or not Artificial General Intelligence will ever be reached, they almost all agree on how AI development can be described. It is shown in this graph, which illustrates the evolution of AI technology over time.

Notes

Vincent C. Müller is a Professor of Philosophy from Eindhoven University of Technology, and Nick Bostrom from the University of Oxford made an interesting expert survey on when we can expect to reach Artificial Super Intelligence. It is called “Future Progress in Artificial Intelligence: A Survey of Expert Opinion”, and you can download it as PDF here: https://philpapers.org/archive/MLLFPI