With new startling predictions being made every week, it’s important to explore the limits of AI.The human brain provides the best reference point
The global information landscape is currently filled with alarmist predictions about the dangers posed by artificial intelligence (AI).Billionaire entrepreneurs and their employees who once gushed about emerging artificial intelligence “Technology Blind”, Suddenly it became the end of the world.as narrated Talk about In the future, sentient AI could end up betraying its creators.
However, except from terminator Franchise?
One way to answer this question is to compare the AI to already available analogs, and sentient, that is – the human brain. Artificial intelligence is not only designed to imitate human thinking, but also surpasses human thinking in some ways. In addition to presenting a paradigm shift, the practicality of AI isn’t exactly revolutionary. Rather, it is a continuation of innovations from the past and present—the wheel, crank, and windmill to overcome our marginal limitations; the bow and missile to counter long-range threats; and the Internet to address space-time constraints in (global) communications.
According to a famous article on Foglets, “It is speculated that the human brain operates at 1 exaFLOP, which equates to a billion calculations per second”. Note that this is only a suppose – Guesses that may be defined by calculated metrics. At the time of writing, Frontier, the world’s fastest supercomputer, is reported to be running at 1.102 exaFLOPs. However, the difference between a brain and a supercomputer is one of nature and function: one thinks while the other analyzes data.
We invented supercomputers to crunch numbers, but our scientists are still baffled by the neural processing capabilities of human calculators. Shakuntala Devi, who grew up in a circus environment, is a prime example. Our sophisticated machine-mediated models still don’t fully understand how the brain works, beyond the fact that blood flow to specific brain lobes is abnormally increased when computational tasks are performed. The rest are planes of scattered research, hypotheses, and data that have not yet been harmonized into an understandable whole.
There are so many unknowns about the human brain. This may be the reason why the scientific community arbitrarily divides its main functions into eight or twelve main categories. Where perception resides within these categories remains an open question. Perhaps, this is the result of cumulative interactions between all of them. Or, perhaps, humans have a sentient soul that enables them to innovate in ways other species cannot? Perhaps, unlike AI devices and algorithms, the brain is software and hardware rolled into one? Too much uncertainty remains.
If neuroscience is an early field filled with countless problems and gaps, what about its simpler subset—artificial intelligence? Will a human-invented embryonic technology suddenly come back to life and threaten humanity? If we can’t fully understand how the human brain works, or even define perception, why are we cutting and pasting plots from science fiction movies into our reality?
AI does have the potential to pose a real threat on a narrow scale. Poor software design, rushed development processes, and mismatched algorithm updates can all lead to various disaster scenarios. These involve accidents at chemical or nuclear plants, stock markets or experimental autonomous vehicles. But the prospect of an ominous, sentient artificial intelligence is an entirely fictional proposition.
The current trend of AI alarmism may actually be rooted in something more mercenary and down-to-earth. Because it may not be the machines that will ultimately rebel against their masters, but the hundreds of millions of workers—perhaps billions—who will be replaced by AI before the decade is out. A topic that deserves its own dedicated commentary, the human brain provides a reality check for the supposed existential threat posed by artificial intelligence.
The Miracle of the Human Brain
The nm.org resource provides the following snippet of our mental organ and its processing power: A fragment of brain tissue the size of a grain of sand contains 100,000 neurons and a billion synapses. The brain can generate about 23 watts of power — enough to light a light bulb. Information was transmitted at an impressive speed of 268 miles per hour, while its storage capacity was thought to be virtually unlimited. Research shows that the human brain consists of approximately 86 billion neurons. Each neuron forms connections to other neurons, which can add up to as many as a trillion (1,000 trillion) connections.
No wonder the poet because he is “Terrible and wonderful production” exist “His mother’s womb”. in any one second, the brain coordinates a dizzying variety of functions within itself and the human body to maintain organic harmony. It also quickly compensates for any deviation from normal in the body in the event of a disruption, i.e. shifting the balance to one leg after the other is damaged or activating hemostasis in the event of bleeding. Thus, the human body is the ultimate Complex Adaptive System (CAS).
While the body’s CAS functions are too vast and technical to list here, there are some mundane examples of how the brain works to protect its host.when you have a “Neck Pain” In an annoying social situation, it’s your brain sending instructions through your body to find the nearest exit and avoid a more serious situation. When you’re suffering from snowballing mental retardation or depression, it could be your brain’s way of warning you to stay away from fake news and the fools peddling it.
Traffic Testing: The Human Brain and Artificial Intelligence
The brain generates 23 watts of power, while the Frontier supercomputer consumes a whopping 21 megawatts (MW). One megawatt equals one million watts. The energy factor alone is why scientists see biocomputing as the next great technological frontier. Until then, we need to live with hardware and software that still can’t match the human brain in relatively simple situations.
I often use the following transportation example to demonstrate the comparative capabilities of the human brain and artificial intelligence. Two vehicles were approaching a narrow choke point in opposite directions. It was raining and windy outside. Car A travels twice as fast as car B, but is twice as far away from the choke point. Both drivers realize that, under normal circumstances, Car B should accelerate out of the narrow strip. However, there is a large pool of water ahead of Car B, which indicates a dangerous pothole below. Both drivers instinctively realized that it would be better for car A to drive out of the choke point first, thereby making room for car B in the adjacent lane to avoid the puddle. This is called situational awareness. The brain processes complex problems like this without breaking a sweat—second by second!
Now, replacing the driver with an autonomous driving system, imagine the scale of the energy and technological infrastructure required to perform a similar task? These cars require GPS navigation and weather updates, satellite and 5G connectivity, and a host of sensors. Satellite navigation may not work during storms. So what are these “smart” vehicles supposed to do? Stay put and stop traffic? Or looking for a curb that is quickly getting muddy? Our human sense of touch will know when to accelerate out of slippery conditions, but self-driving cars require a lot of hardware and algorithms to cope.
Now, imagine a billion cars operated by self-driving systems. How will the energy and computing power of this infrastructure be generated? Is a well-known Death Star enough, albeit for our collective good?
Perhaps, this is the conundrum that keeps AI alarmists up at night? The AI technology utopia they envision cannot support a global population of 1 billion, let alone the 8 billion we currently have.
In fact, according to renowned technology seer Yuval Noah Harari, “The great political and economic question of the 21st century will be what we need humans to do, or at least what we need so many people to do.”
Now, if that doesn’t send an existential chill down your spine, I don’t know what will.
Statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of RT.
