Fact or Fiction: The Perils of the Path to Artificial Intelligence

Screen Shot 2015-08-13 at 15.35.00Developments and research within the field of artificial intelligence (AI) have been discussed greatly in recent times, especially in the context of how the developments affect modern society and its foundations.

While participating in a newscast program, Spegillinn, on Icelandic radio, Dr. Kristinn R. Thórisson shared his views and expertise in AI where he said that Iceland is in the frontline of developing a machine capable of independent thinking. The existence of the Icelandic Institute of Intelligent Machines (IIIM) has significantly advanced this research and underlines its importance.

Kris says that claims that general machine intelligence is right around the corner are greatly exaggerated: For a machine to be able to threaten society, it needs a general intelligence, which we are still at least two decades away from developing. Knowledge of how the principles of general intelligence, whether instantiated in neurons or in silico, is still vastly lacking, preventing the development of a machine that is capable of even the simplest of tasks that a human child or some animals are capable of, for example how a child learns to hold a tool or an adult learns to yield a chainsaw.

The news bulletin furthermore included comments by Thórir Hrafnsson, from the Icelandic Ministry of Industries and Innovation, who stressed their goals of supporting progress and development in this field.

Broadcast (in Icelandic) is available here.