The Dark Side of Artificial Intelligence

The question of the possibility of AI becoming malevolent or destructive has been raised. Experts think two scenarios most likely:

• The AI device or program does something destructive: For example, autonomous weapons that are programmed to kill.

• The AI is programmed to do something beneficial, but it develops a destructive method for achieving its goal: For example, an AI system is tasked with a ambitious geoengineering project, but it might wreak havoc with our ecosystem as a side effect, and view human attempts to stop it as a threat to be met.

In a paper published in the journal Science Robotics, researchers Sandra Wachter, Brent Mittelstadt, and Luciano Floridi point out that policing robotics is extremely difficult. And as artificial intelligence becomes more widespread, it’s going to become a greater problem for society.

In 2015, Elon Musk donated $10 million to, as reported in Wired magazine, "to keep A.I. from turning evil." Musk, Bill Gates and Stephen Hawking have all issued warnings of the dark side of Artificial Intelligence, if we fail to control its development.