The End of Humanity: Beep Beep between 2040-2050 AD

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• published: 05 Aug 2016
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Be afraid. Be very afraid. Somewhere over the next decennia, robots may decide to kick all humans off the planet. Oh, you always held that for science fiction? A growing number of dead serious computer scientists disagree. It all happens quite suddenly. The one day, everything looks like it's supposed to be. But the next day -- there's war. As you draw back the curtains in the morning, you’ll find the streets full of chaos and despair. A traffic robot unit chases your neighbor Macy across the streets. The robotic sales unit from the grocery store around the corner holds the shopkeeper down to the ground. And look, there's your friend John, he's chased by one of those automated school busses! Then, you hear a rumbling sound. From the far end of the street, a platoon of big, greenish black robots marches in. You recognize them from TV: they're the robots Defense uses for strategic military operations. But this time, the robots seem to operate all by themselves. Systematically and with extreme precision, they rid the town of humans, shooting everyone they encounter. Slowly, you step back from the window. You rub your eyes. This must be a dream, you tell yourself, yes, an oddball nightmare, what else can it be? But then, a crippling burst of pain shoots through your body. As you fall to the ground, soaking in blood, you turn your head. There, right next to you, is your devoted household robot Nelly. She’s holding your brand new kitchen knife, uttering weird beeping and humming sounds of pleasure... Okay, okay, so I let fantasy take over a little. But wait. Robots waging war against their creators no longer belong to the realm of science fiction. In fact, the subject pops up on more and more dead serious scientific robotics congresses. Admittedly -- household robots, Defense robots and automated school busses don't exist yet. But that is changing rapidly. Already, robots build our cars, run our production lines, help our surgeons in operations, dig for oil, clean our sewage pipes, explore distant planets, disarm land mines, fly airplanes, entertain our kids -- yes, they even drive cars around, albeit on experimental test tracks only. There's absolutely no doubt robots will become ever more important. They will fight our wars, cook our meals, take care of transportation and even satisfy our sexual needs. As long as there's a demand and money to be made, new robots will show up, taking care of an ever-growing list of tasks and jobs. But the real revolution will come from Artificial Intelligence: computer software that is capable of learning by itself. As we speak, Artificial Intelligence is undergoing a BIG revolution. From data storage programs that learn how to make sense out of human voices to computers that learn how to recognize alien life forms (no, really!) -- it's all there. And the combination with robotics is, of course, also made. As we speak, the first artificial intelligent robots are learning how to perform simple tasks, such as steering around objects or plugging themselves into a power point before their batteries run out. So, is the world becoming a better one? A lot of people think so. But wait, there's a BIG problem here. The next-generation robot will make up its own mind -- literally. It will acquire huge amounts of knowledge, simply because computer brains hold more information than human brains. It will think faster, learn faster, and outsmart us many, many times -- some AI-scientists estimate that within only some twenty to thirty years, an everyday robot will outsmart humans by several BILLIONS of times. And although it is speculative, many experts believe the robots will even develop something like a consciousness. So there we are, surrounded by super smart computers on legs that may even have a certain kind of awakening consciousness. It will give a lot of people the creeps. According to the Belgium robotics pioneer Hugo the Garis, who makes a hobby out of preaching doom and destruction, this will cause war. It will be the `haves' against the `have-nots'; the people who have the robots against the people who don't. The latter group will want to smash all robots to bits; the first will firmly believe that robots are essential for human progress. From: http://www.exitmundi.nl/exitmundi.htm