Irish Examiner view: The enemy from within

If we do face an existential threat from the galloping progress of artificial intelligence, then it already has the perfect access-all-areas pass into our brains

There have been enough warnings now for us to demand serious answers to important questions when it comes to capabilities and dangers of AI. 
Picture: John Walton/PA 

If the doomsayers are correct, and we face an existential threat from the galloping progress of artificial intelligence, then it already has the perfect access-all-areas pass into our brains by ever-increasing dependence on the internet and social media.

The latest Growing Up in Ireland study found that excessive use by children impacts their wellbeing, leading to concerns over conduct and hyperactivity levels. It concluded that 99% of the cohort it is studying reached “full saturation” by the ages of 17-18.

There have been enough warnings now, from sources as varied as Elon Musk and Geoffrey Hinton, the man hailed as the godfather of machine learning, for us to demand serious answers to important questions. 

We need to remember that Sarah Connor phrase in Terminator 2: “No fate but what we make.” We must demand to know what’s happening.