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00:00Humans have long considered ourselves the most intelligent lifeforms on Earth.
00:04But for how much longer?
00:06Artificial intelligent life is becoming more and more commonplace in modern society, and
00:11AI brings with it a great deal of benefits, along with just as many risks.
00:15The most harrowing of these risks is the chance that humans will lose control of AI, and that
00:20it will destroy humanity.
00:22So, are these fears an over-exaggeration?
00:25Or are such sentiments grounded firmly in reality?
00:28This is Unveiled, and today we're answering the extraordinary question…
00:32Will AI Turn Against Us?
00:36Do you need the big questions answered?
00:38Are you constantly curious?
00:39Then why not subscribe to Unveiled for more clips like this one?
00:42And ring the bell for more thought-provoking content!
00:46It was actually during ancient times that we first created myths surrounding artificial
00:51intelligence.
00:52Greek legends were the earliest, such as the story of Talos, a bronze automaton gifted
00:57with intelligence, tasked to defend Crete.
00:59For most of our history, though, machines that could think have been far from the realms
01:03of reality.
01:04It wasn't until around the middle of the twentieth century that serious research into
01:08AI began.
01:10Alan Turing was the earliest pioneer of the field, publishing Computing Machinery and
01:14Intelligence in 1950.
01:17In it, he coined the Turing Test, which is a way to determine if a computer can indeed
01:21think intelligently.
01:23It's been over seventy years since this paper, and now a variety of different AI is
01:28commonly used in daily life.
01:30Language translation, facial recognition, online advertising, search engines… there's
01:35an ever-growing list.
01:37Slowly it's starting to feel like there isn't a field we haven't applied it to.
01:41And clearly, we have quickly found a lot of benefits to AI.
01:45For example, they can easily handle large quantities of data, are free from human error,
01:50and of course, they can work 24-7.
01:52Generally, it seems that technology is improving society, and should continue to do so.
01:57AIs are a route to ultimate efficiency.
02:00However, many believe that we should be extremely cautious.
02:04Renowned physicist Professor Stephen Hawking once said, quote,
02:08The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race.
02:12End quote.
02:13He followed this up by saying that AI would far exceed humans, since our advancements
02:18are limited by biological evolution.
02:21The late scientist thought we should be extremely careful.
02:24How justified exactly were his fears?
02:27Where AI is in its current state, already people worry it can be used maliciously.
02:32We're currently in a worldwide race for lethal autonomous weapons, or LAWS.
02:37In 2024, the U.S. Department of Defense promised $1 billion for the Replicator program, which
02:43aims to field thousands of autonomous war drones.
02:47Shortly, it's expected that drones will be able to use widespread facial recognition
02:52to target and attack specific individuals.
02:54Overall, warfare is one of the simplest fields we can apply AI to, and as a result, the United
03:00Nations has been debating a worldwide ban on autonomous weapons.
03:05Unfortunately, quite a few countries oppose such a ban.
03:08So, governments worldwide are weaponizing artificial intelligence… but can we be sure
03:13that those AI weapons will stay loyal to their creators?
03:17While the U.S., for example, is against banning them, they still want to ensure humans are
03:21ultimately controlling them.
03:23The concept of emergent behaviour, however, implies we might not be able to control them
03:28forever.
03:29In the case of LAWS, it's when, in a near-future time, they're connected in such a way that
03:34they can easily communicate with each other, independent of human behaviour.
03:39Some military minds have pitched the idea for teams of hundreds of LAWS, for instance,
03:44connected in a widespread hive mind.
03:46No humans necessary.
03:49Communication between them would expand, but to where is almost impossible to predict.
03:53At the least, we might expect whole new tactics arriving via emergent behaviour, turning weaponized
03:59AI into a force of its own to be reckoned with.
04:02The Pentagon is reportedly making a big push to develop what some have labelled Slaughter
04:07Bot Swarms… all of which means that, like it or not, they are likely to become a reality.
04:12Again, we have no idea what a heavily armed and highly connected flock of AI intelligence
04:18will do.
04:19Hopefully, fail-safes will be put in place to prevent serious issues.
04:23However, some worry that any attempted block or limiter will eventually be overridden.
04:28Meanwhile, the U.S. Air Force is also working on something called Project Venom.
04:33This aims to develop powerful F-16 fighters which are capable of flying themselves.
04:37Currently, about $50 million has been invested, and on the bright side, AI jets will certainly
04:43reduce the need to risk human pilots.
04:46If we can rely on AI's loyalty, and if we have the proper fail-safes in place, then
04:51they should only ever be a danger to enemy targets.
04:54However, once again, this is entirely new ground.
04:58Can Venom really be realised exactly as its developers want it?
05:02Could there always be a risk of it turning against its maker?
05:05Or of it misinterpreting or refusing mission orders?
05:09Or just going on a rampage?
05:11These are the sorts of huge questions that dog any plans to push forward.
05:15In general, as we haven't yet completely solved AI even in a non-military context,
05:20many believe it's just too far too soon to try weaponising it.
05:24One positive note is that most major nations agree AI should never be given access to nuclear
05:29weapons… although, alarmingly, not everyone is quite in agreement here, either.
05:35But of course, AI isn't only about lethal, autonomous weapons.
05:38Yes, they could prove our doom… but what about everything else in the AI bracket?
05:43Currently, AI still isn't truly sentient.
05:46We've likely all used some type of virtual assistant, such as Apple's Siri… but these
05:51are not intelligent enough to overthrow humanity, no matter how spooky they can sometimes seem.
05:57Truly sentient AI is predicted in the very near future, though… so should we be worried
06:01about that?
06:02In even a non-military setting?
06:04In 2017, news broke that Facebook had developed two chatbots tasked to converse with each
06:10other over a fictional trade negotiation.
06:13Machine learning was used to create them, and the chat was monitored.
06:17Scarily, the two bots quickly deviated from any predicted script.
06:21They developed their own language, and started conversing in this instead.
06:26It was at this point that Facebook shut the study down.
06:29Other AIs have done similar things, with Google's translation AI also creating artificial languages
06:34before now.
06:35Broadly, it's thought that the seeming nonsense to us acts as an intermediary language, an
06:41unreadable link, to the machines… while it's true that neither of these examples
06:45is particularly dangerous, given their lack of power.
06:49Both cases do highlight how an AI world could lead in all new and unknown directions.
06:54The Facebook and Google stories might easily be explained away as glitches right now…
06:59but what happens when they're more than one-off peculiarities?
07:03Are these small moments a sign of more significant things to come?
07:07Generative AI, the most readily available form at present, can generate images, videos,
07:12text, and solve equations.
07:14And the tech can already do a lot of damage… for example, by replacing certain jobs.
07:20Such as in China, where reports claim that about 70% of video game illustrators have
07:25been axed, partly due to growing reliance on AI.
07:29Gamers have critiqued the AI products, saying they lack human creativity… but there's
07:33little sign of the trend stopping.
07:35Perhaps the most infamous contemporary issue of all, however, is the ongoing appearance
07:39of deepfakes.
07:41These involve using someone's likeness to create an exact copy of that person… which
07:45rapidly leads to false images and video involving them, made without their consent.
07:51Such AI was the trigger for the Hollywood Strikes of 2023… but these tools could ultimately
07:56impact far more than simply those in the media.
07:59How far can these new realities take us?
08:02On the one hand, as current, generative AIs are usually trained using human data, it's
08:08at least thought and hoped that they couldn't yet learn to do things that we can't.
08:12Scientific results draw on what's been done prior.
08:15In other words, human knowledge will likely be the limiting factor.
08:18And so, the general consensus is that AI in this state can't directly turn against us.
08:25Replace us?
08:26Maybe.
08:27Dislike us?
08:28Possibly.
08:29But break away from us?
08:30Probably not.
08:31There is a darker extension, though.
08:33True AI, also known as Artificial Superintelligence, is a different ballgame.
08:39Right now, it remains in the realm of science fiction.
08:42But were fiction ever to become fact, then it's proposed that this more advanced AI
08:46will learn so well that it will exceed human understanding.
08:51Humans will no longer be the most intelligent lifeforms on Earth, and we'll all be painfully
08:55aware of our demise.
08:57Today, many may consider it speculative territory, but others say that it's vitally important
09:02for us to speculate in order to heat it off.
09:05According to Stephen Hawking, for one, there are no physical laws preventing AI from one
09:10day – perhaps one day soon – operating better than the human brain can.
09:15At which point, it could turn against us, just as easily as it could do any number of
09:20other things.
09:21Will supreme AI crave power?
09:24Will it recognise life on Earth as valuable?
09:26Or see it as a threat?
09:28Or merely an annoyance?
09:30Will it one day scrub back through all the media of now?
09:33The books and films and YouTube videos, with admiration, relish, or disdain?
09:39For all the concerns, generative AI should remain beneath us, but is generative only
09:44the first generation?
09:46And will what's coming next care two hoots about us that came before?
09:51What do you think?
09:52Is there anything we missed?
09:53Let us know in the comments, check out these other clips from Unveiled, and make sure you
09:57subscribe and ring the bell for our latest content.