With studies proving that a theoretical “super intelligent artificial intelligence” will be unstoppable, how much time does humanity have left? Well, according to Silicon Valley investor Peter Thiel, humanity has all the time in the world.
Speaking at COSM 2021, the renowned venture capitalist shut down the possibility of AI intellect outpacing human intellect. While many believe the onset of The Metaverse and Neuralink will result in transhumanism, Thiel isn't convinced.
Artificial Intelligence is a “buzzword”
Reported by MindMatters, Thiel’s speech slammed the use of AI as a technological buzzword. As basic forms of AI are becoming more common in everyday technology, the idea “smart” AI is being diluted.
Instead of being used to discuss self-thinking, near-sentient computers, the phrase is used do describe most competing.
“AI is the worst buzzword out there,” Thiel said. “And one of the reasons it’s such a terrible buzzword is it can mean just about anything. So it can mean something about futuristic computer technology, the next generation of computers, the last generation of computers, and anything in between.”
Read More: AI ethics guidelines drafted by Department of Defense
Surveillance is the real threat
Thiel’s thoughts quickly turned to what he believes do be the “real” computing that: surveillance. The dangers of facial recognition have only just started to be discussed by governmental bodies like European Parliament. However, the technology is quickly spreading.
The venture capitalist argues that the threat of facial recognition is lumped in with AI. However, in reality, the programs that power the software involves “fairly dumb computers”. Nevertheless, those dumb computers still “monitor us in all places and all times”.
Thiel says:
“You can think of the crackdown in China or Hong Kong, where you have facial recognition software. This is not futuristic, super, super smart AI, but it is sort of a next generation technology.”
Read More: AI researchers need to slow down, claims Ex-Google AI ethics researcher