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Fire good. AI better:
Google CEO Sundar Pichai says artificial intelligence is going to have a bigger impact on the world than some of the most ubiquitous innovations in history. "AI is one of the most important things humanity is working on. It is more profound than, I dunno, electricity or fire," says Pichai, speaking at a town hall event in San Francisco in January.
A number of very notable tech leaders have made bold statements about the potential of artificial intelligence. Tesla boss Elon Musks says AI is more dangerous than North Korea. Famous physicist Stephen Hawking says AI could be the "worst event in the history of our civilization." And Y Combinator President Sam Altman likens AI to nuclear fission.
Even in such company, Pichai's comment seems remarkable. Interviewer and Recode executive editor Kara Swisher stopped Pichai when he made the comment. "Fire? Fire is pretty good," she retorts. Pichai sticks by his assertion. "Well, it kills people, too," Pichai says of fire. "We have learned to harness fire for the benefits of humanity but we had to overcome its downsides too. So my point is, AI is really important, but we have to be concerned about it."
(Score: 3, Informative) by maxwell demon on Saturday February 03 2018, @10:24AM (10 children)
This is demonstrably wrong. Without electricity, there cannot be AI. Therefore electricity is more important than AI, as it is a prerequisite of AI, but can be put to use also without it.
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 03 2018, @10:31AM (1 child)
You are thinking too small, we could just use sla-I mean hire bureaucrats to process results.
(Score: 2) by beckett on Saturday February 03 2018, @10:33AM
sure i could do that... For Money
(Score: 2) by looorg on Saturday February 03 2018, @11:02AM (4 children)
Just wait for them to unearth the giant Chinese AI abacus. It took an army of minions to run ...
OK all silliness aside it's indeed a bit odd that AI is somehow more important then electricity (or fire). Whatever happened to standing on the shoulders of giants and all that? I guess electricity or fire just won't hype his personal stock-options as much as AI will tho so that is why it's being heralded as the greatest thing since sliced bread (which also wouldn't be a thing without fire .. or electricity). Lets just imagine then 50 years from now when AI is so common that we don't even care then it's going to be some other thing that is more profound and important and AI was just some trivial thing in the darkages of mankind that has no relevance today when we have {insert awesome fantastic never heard of before tech here}.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by khallow on Saturday February 03 2018, @02:59PM (2 children)
Why the assumption that prior accomplishments, no matter how necessary, are more important than future ones? For example, to launch the Falcon Heavy, SpaceX will need to obtain approval from some government agency (either FAA or NASA, IIRC). Does that mean that the approval, since it is necessary for the launch to proceed, is more important than the launch?
(Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Saturday February 03 2018, @05:10PM (1 child)
You are comparing apples with office hours: Those are not even in the same category.
Here's a hint for you: The approval isn't necessary for the launch, it is necessary for the company not to get into deep trouble because of the launch. The Falcon Heavy would take off even without a permit.
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Sunday February 04 2018, @04:19AM
In other words, it is necessary for the launch. I want the 30 seconds of my life back.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Saturday February 03 2018, @03:12PM
You know what else was "more revolutionary than the wheel?" Ginger, aka the Segway.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 03 2018, @02:57PM
We all stand on the shoulders of giants that came before. AI is no exception.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 03 2018, @03:01PM
We all stand on the shoulders of giants. AI is no exception.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 03 2018, @09:13PM
I could build a perfectly good AI system without electricity - using fluidic logic. Sure it would be slower than the electronic version, and use more energy, but I could do it - and so could others.
Yes, I would need a BIG budget.
However, I am more than 100% confident that the current set of projects are more likely to achieve artificial stupidity, so I am currently very busy not panicking.
Disclaimer: Yes, I am a robot.