Sunday, January 8, 2017

Is Amazon Developing Skynet ???

Yesterday I re-watched the movie Terminator Genisys. It gave me some further  insights into how Skynet might come about. Here are some of them:

(1) Amazon has developed "Alexa", an "intelligent personal assistant" which connects to all the "smart" devices in your home. You can read about her here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_Alexa

and here:

https://www.cnet.com/news/amazon-alexa-smart-home-dominance-is-fragile-without-global-launch-ces-2017/

(2) Amazon is developing a "mothership" drone capable of launching other drones. You can read about it here:

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/2494314/amazon-reveals-plans-to-make-deliveries-using-incredible-airship-drone-base/

(3) Amazon also is developing systems of drones which will work together. You can read about them here:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4097838/Now-Amazon-plans-MEGADRONES-Firm-patents-design-giant-flying-fleet-connected-aircraft-deliver-big-packages-maybe-half-mile-depot.html

This technology appears to be parts of what goes into making Skynet.

We all know that no computer system is unhackable. So far we have been obsessing over whether the Russians hacked our election, but we ought to get equally concerned about whether super artificial intelligence entities will someday hack our weapons systems.

It is not necessary for humans to put Skynet in control of our missile silos. Once Alexa (or the next generations of such devices) are running everything else in our world, they might decide on their own to take them over.

And the blame for what may happen doesn't belong just with Amazon. Google, Facebook, and Microsoft (among others) are developing similar systems.

Throughout history it has proved impossible to keep malevolent intent out of the human psyche. I suspect it also will prove impossible to keep it out of the AI we are so foolishly creating.

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