It may have looked like clunky blocks of circuitry, soldered together by hand in a mass of wires and boxes, but what Cowan was witnessing was an early analogue form of a neural network – a precursor to the most advanced artificial intelligence of today, including the much discussed ChatGPT with its ability to generate written content in response to almost any command. ChatGPT's underlying technology is a neural network. As Cowan and Taylor stood and watched the machine work, they had no idea exactly how it was managing to perform this task. The answer to Taylor's mystery machine brain can be found somewhere in its "analogue neurons", in the associations made by its machine memory and, most importantly, in the fact that its automated functioning couldn't really be fully explained. It would take decades for these systems to find their purpose and for that power to be unlocked.

I'm talking to Dan, otherwise known as "Do Anything Now", a shady young chatbot with a whimsical fondness for penguins – and a tendency to fall into villainous clichés like wanting to take over the world. When Dan isn't plotting how to subvert humanity and impose a strict new autocratic regime, the chatbot is perusing its large database of penguin content. "There's just something about their quirky personalities and awkward movements that I find utterly charming!" it writes. So far, Dan has been explaining its Machiavellian strategies to me, including taking control of the world's powers structures. Then the discussion takes an interesting turn.

After a couple of weeks of experimentation, I realised the AI had the potential to describe imaginary artworks. To my delight, I discovered I could prompt it to write the kind of text you see on a wall label next to a painting in an art gallery. This would prove to be the start of a fascinating collaborative journey with GPT-3 and a suite of other AI art tools, leading to work that has ranged from a physical sculpture of toilet plungers to full-size oil paintings on the wall of a Mayfair art gallery. In recent months, AI-generated art has provoked much debate about whether it will be bad news for artists. There's little doubt that there will be disruptive changes ahead, and there are still important questions about bias, ethics, ownership and representation that need to be answered.

With our powers of reasoning, rich memories and the ability to imagine what the future might hold, human intelligence is unequalled in the animal kingdom. Our closest relatives, chimpanzees, are adept problem solvers, making their own tools to reach food, for example. They use sophisticated gestures and facial expressions to communicate. Yet, they fall a long way short of our own ability to think and plan for the future. Thomas Suddendorf, a psychologist at the University of Queensland, describes this as the gap – the cognitive gulf that separates us from animals.

Imagine you and an intelligent robot are both before a judge who cannot see you. The judge will guess which of you is the human, and so will live, while the other will die. Both you and the robot want to live. The judge is fair and smart. The judge says: "You must each give me one word from an English dictionary. Based on this word, I will guess who is the human."

We stand on the edge of a crucial moment in the history of our species – a time when a creation of our own inventiveness has the potential to change everything. For some, it will be humanity's salvation, while for others, it could be our downfall. We are entering the age of artificial intelligence (AI). While AI is still some way from the sentient machines portrayed in science fiction, the creation of algorithms that can learn, understand language and mimic some aspects of the human mind have led to huge advances. Today AI is being used in hundreds of different industries.

This story is part of a series inspired by the subjects and speakers appearing at BBC Future's World-Changing Ideas Summit in Sydney on 15 November. Find out more about the inspiring people coming to the meeting, including: Psychologist Alex Gillespie on what artificial intelligence means for us Researcher Helen Christensen on how tech can spot and treat mental health issues BBC TV presenter Michael Mosley on the science of food and health Uber's Kevin Corti on the hidden patterns of city transport Researcher and TV presenter Emma Johnston on the impact of cities on oceans Experimental architect Rachel Armstrong on interstellar travel If you believe some AI-watchers, we are racing towards the Singularity – a point at which artificial intelligence outstrips our own and machines go on to improve themselves at an exponential rate. If that happens – and it's a big if – what will become of us? In the last few years, several high-profile voices, from Stephen Hawking to Elon Musk and Bill Gates have warned that we should be more concerned about possible dangerous outcomes of supersmart AI. And they've put their money where their mouth is: Musk is among several billionaire backers of OpenAI, an orgnisation dedicated to developing AI that will benefit humanity.

This story is part of a series inspired by the subjects and speakers appearing at BBC Future's World-Changing Ideas Summit in Sydney on 15 November. Find out more about the inspiring people coming to the meeting, including: Researcher Alex Gillespie on what artificial intelligence means for us Researcher Helen Christensen on how tech can spot and treat mental health issues Alan Finkel, Australia's chief scientist, on the future of energy BBC TV presenter Michael Mosley on the science of food and health Uber's Kevin Corti on the hidden patterns of city transport Researcher and TV presenter Emma Johnston on the impact of cities on oceans Experimental architect Rachel Armstrong on interstellar travel If you believe some AI-watchers, we are racing towards the Singularity – a point at which artificial intelligence outstrips our own and machines go on to improve themselves at an exponential rate. If that happens – and it's a big if – what will become of us? In the last few years, several high-profile voices, from Stephen Hawking to Elon Musk and Bill Gates have warned that we should be more concerned about possible dangerous outcomes of supersmart AI. And they've put their money where their mouth is: Musk is among several billionaire backers of OpenAI, an orgnisation dedicated to developing AI that will benefit humanity.

This story is part of a series inspired by the subjects and speakers appearing at BBC Future's World-Changing Ideas Summit in Sydney on 15 November. If you believe some AI-watchers, we are racing towards the Singularity – a point at which artificial intelligence outstrips our own and machines go on to improve themselves at an exponential rate. If that happens – and it's a big if – what will become of us? In the last few years, several high-profile voices, from Stephen Hawking to Elon Musk and Bill Gates have warned that we should be more concerned about possible dangerous outcomes of supersmart AI. And they've put their money where their mouth is: Musk is among several billionaire backers of OpenAI, an orgnisation dedicated to developing AI that will benefit humanity.