in the masterpiece of the great syrian thinker sadiq jalal al-azm (1934-2016) “criticism of religious thought,” the author describes the “tragic” situation of satan, as he believed in the principle of not violating god’s command and not prostrating to anyone else! so, after creating adam, he refused the command to prostrate to him and considered it a test of the sincerity of his faith, risking disobeying the creator, so he was expelled from paradise and a curse fell upon him!
senior scientists, thinkers, politicians, writers, and businessmen have expressed their fear of the great acceleration in artificial intelligence programs, especially after a laboratory conducted an experiment on a robot designed to eliminate a specific danger, and when its “maker” asked him to stop killing, he refused to obey the order, because it was pre-programmed. to kill non-stop, and with increasing pressure on him to stop executing instructions, he turned into the one who programmed him and eliminated him!
and another company designed a device that gets “victory points” or prizes when it eliminates a specific threat, and when it was asked to stop killing, it turned around and killed its programmer, because staying alive would prevent it from obtaining points or prizes!
the robot was modified, made into the shape of a drone, and given programmed instructions, so that it could not kill whoever programmed it, and that it would lose more points if it did. with conflicting instructions, and the inability to kill the programmer, it destroyed the communications tower that the operator used to communicate with it, and this enabled him to act more freely, according to his previous programming!
these and other examples prompted google’s artificial intelligence specialist, gary marcus, to warn his peers, deputies, and the public about the risks associated with this technology, and the need to place restrictions on it, especially with its rapid development, which no mind can imagine or pursue.
however, no concerned party has heeded these claims or warnings, as the race between them is raging and fierce, despite knowing that what they are doing is frightening, insecure, and often inconsistent with human values, and represents, in the opinion of some, a real danger to them!
marcus stressed that there are credible scenarios in which artificial intelligence could cause “tremendous damage”, and some might, for example, succeed in manipulating the markets. we may accuse the russians of being responsible, and attack them while they have no involvement whatsoever, and we may be drawn into an accidental war that threatens to turn into a nuclear war.
in the short term, marcus expresses fears for democracy, as generative artificial intelligence software is increasingly able to produce fake videos and photos that are very close to realism, at low cost, and may decide the outcome of the elections in favor of those who are most adept at spreading disinformation, and these may amend the laws after their victory, they impose an authoritarian regime for their own benefit.
he stressed that “democracy is based on possessing logical information and making the right decisions. and if no one can distinguish between what is true and what is not true, then it is over.” however, this does not mean, in the opinion of the expert, who published a book entitled ‘relaunching artificial intelligence’, that this technology does not hold promises.
he said, “there is an opportunity that one day we will use an artificial intelligence system that we have not yet invented, which will help us make progress in science, in medicine, in caring for the elderly … but at the present time we are not ready. we need regulation, and we need to make the software more reliable.”