AI may take over the world: Yuval Harari - China.org.cn

"We (human beings) began as animals, gradually transformed ourselves into the gods of the planet earth, and very soon we may pass this mastery to a complete different lifeform, artificial intelligence (AI) and even disappear completely," said Yuval Harari, author of an international bestseller, in Beijing on April 23. The Israeli historian began this argument while citing the historic five-game match between World Go Champion Lee Sedol and AlphaGo, Google's computer program, which brought worldwide attention to the power of artificial intelligence. He forecasted that we may witness AI's emergence and domination in the decades to come. "It (AlphaGo) has no conscious or feelings; when it played, it did not feel anxious and while it won, it did not feel joy," said Dr. Harari who is frightened by a situation in which intelligence and consciousness may separate with AI conquering the world. He cited driving as an example, saying that as companies like Google and Tesla all developing AI that can outperform humans in operating vehicles, people may finally free themselves from these actions as the computer programs drive more efficiently, safely and cheaply in a highly-connected system of artificial intelligence that renders accidents and traffic jams a thing of the past.