Ramblings from an Automation Mad Man ( A Blog Series)
By Jerry Maldonado –VP of Automation, Customer Lifecycle Solutions
That is the question.
Artificial intelligence (AI for short) – does that term spring forth visions of utopia or of robots and drones driving over the crushed bones of humanity? When you hear AI, do you think it will spring forth new advancements in Human Evolution or bring with it the end of civilization as we know it? Will we live like folks in star wars or the beginning of IRobot or face a world where Skynet is real and the terminator is out for our demise?
If you listen to some of our leading visionaries and tech leaders, AI will be the doom of humanity. The founder of Tesla Motors and SpaceX is terrified that artificial intelligence will be the end of humanity. He was quoted as saying that AI will soon be “potentially more dangerous than nukes”. Stephen Hawking has also warned the world about the dangers of AI and has stated that “the development of full AI could spell the end of the human race”. Now before you go all “off the grid “, both these folks are not worried about things like Siri or Cortana , they fear full fledge supercomputing AI like the ones in the movie iRobot or HAL from 2001. If you don’t remember the movie HAL was a Space Odyssey about a computer that becomes smarter than the humans that programed them.
The fact of the matter is that AI is with us today and in many facets of our day to day living. The utilization of highly analytical and processing engines that run autonomously and performs complex tasks that would normally require a higher level of intelligence is by definition AI. This type of behavior can be seen in commonly used systems all over the place today. Look at self-parking cars, home automation systems, aircraft controls, and the list goes on. In fact, the new Application Economy combined with the massive explosions of IoT devices is increasing the overall usage of artificial intelligence and the connectivity of sensors, monitors , videos and computers that can see, hear, smell, and touch the world the way we humans do.
AI is the ultimate form of automation, the pinnacle of process and orchestration, but the question is what will happen if the student becomes the master? This quandary has been going on for a long time. In fact, the great Isaac Asimov built three laws that should govern AI -
Isaac Asimov's "Three Laws of Robotics"
- A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
- A robot must obey orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
- A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.
Assuming if this logic holds true, mankind should be safe unless by some crazed way we give computers the same thought patterns as humans. Today’s computers are locked into the designs of ones and zeros. Meaning that the logic will either fit or not fit into a set of parameters. If it does fit into a parameter, it perform a function or many functions. The three laws provide a parameter and a function which keeps us safe theoretically.
But is the concept of an evil AI by today’s standards and extension the dark side of humanity? For example , crazed hackers who changes the parameter and the functions to cause harm or damage to other folks. These would-be evil scientists may create a virus to infect machines with malicious codes and purpose to destroy our way of life.I am sure someone somewhere will figure out the logic behind emotions. Some programmers will be able to build algorithms that will simulate greed, envy, and lust. Developers will write code to simulate happiness, sadness, anger. Until those are mastered and created, I for one will not fear AI. But I will continue to worry about the human element. Because it is the human element today that controls the tools of the world. The tools of creation as well as the tools of destruction are the elements that will lead to humanity evolution and demise.
So until that day, I will enjoy the concept of autonomous vehicle, devices that monitor my health and make corrections to my evil ways. I will bask in the sounds of Cortana and Siri. I will relish in the new Application Economy and the marvels of automation in making every aspect of my life better. I will continue to evangelize the merits of Automation, DevOps, Monitoring, IoT , Security and Technology in general. But if the AI of the future does come in my lifetime, I will stand tall with my EMP device, my time traveling robot terminator savior, and my list of addresses for Sarah Connor.