General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: This is why we are not about to be replaced by robots [View all]Kelvin Mace
(17,469 posts)but I argue that it is for the wrong reasons.
We have a VERY stupid military that wants to give weapons to software driven machines, software that is woefully incapable of the task it is being delegated and will make for very bad outcomes. Human beings fail miserably at making ethical and moral decisions (see Donald J. Trump, presidential candidacy of). Software, and lets be honest, that's all this is, a program, is the ultimate in "just following orders". There are NO ethical or moral dimensions for software unless it is programmed in, and even then, we have made a conscious decision to NOT implement Asimov's Laws of Robotics, so a bloodbath will be the ultimate outcome.
Yes, computing power is increasing at a steep rate, yet we are now starting to hit the wall of physical limits. ICs can only get so small before they start becoming unreliable due to quantum effects. The clock speed of CPU chips has pretty much stagnated for over a decade because we can't run the chips any faster without elaborate, energy hungry, cooling systems. Also, the more complex the hardware, the more complex the software needed to run it, and humans must write that software.
I see AI the way I see sustainable fusion power, something that has been perpetually 5-10 years away, that stays 5-10 years away.