FLI May, 2018 Newsletter Tech| AI

THE NEW YORKER: How Frightened Should We Be of A.I.?
“Thinking about artificial intelligence can help clarify what makes us human—for better and for worse.”

DISCOVER MAGAZINE: Boycott Threat Terminated ‘Killer Robot’ Project
“Notable tech leaders and scientists have signed open letter petitions calling for a ban on lethal autonomous weapons powered by artificial intelligence technologies. But a group of AI researchers recently went a step farther by using the threat of boycott to discourage a university from developing so-called killer robot technologies.”

KYODO NEWS: Development of beneficial AI holds key to a better society
“Whether you love or hate it, artificial intelligence is here to stay. The question is, particularly in Japan which faces a severely aging and shrinking workforce, will AI perform tasks that are beneficial to society as a whole?”

BIG THINK: The 10 best books about A.I.
“Max Tegmark, an MIT professor (and Big Think guest), covers a wide range of spectrums in the potential future of AI [in Life 3.0]. … What it does best is it helps inform the layperson in areas of impact that will be affected most by AI in our day to day lives.”

YAHOO FINANCE: Unfiltered: ‘Time is running out’
“‘We could wind up in situations where we have robots patrolling contested borders,’ Asaro says. ‘Countries that start assassinating people around the world with small robots and drones, killing large numbers of a very specific set of people.’”

DEFENSE ONE: Terrorists Are Going to Use Artificial Intelligence

“Tegmark writes that after they are ‘mass-produced, small AI-powered killer drones are likely to cost little more than a smartphone.’ Would-be assassins could simply ‘upload their target’s photo and address into the killer drone: it can then fly to the destination, identify and eliminate the person, and self-destruct to ensure that nobody knows who was responsible.’”

SPACE.COM: NASA’s Space AI Hunts Exoplanets, Not Humans — Yet
“While AI is a popular theme in space exploration, its use (and misuse) has been discussed by several people in other applications as well. In 2015, Musk, Hawking and other science and tech leaders signed an open letter saying that artificial intelligence technology could generate a global arms race.”