What About AI?

That seems to be an important question. As in, "If we create robots that think, will that be the beginning of the end for humanity?"

I am one who is in favor of creating such and I don't fear it. First, because it will happen well after I am dead and, second, because I think the benefits outweigh the risks.

Much of our thinking, especially on this subject, seems to come from books and movies. And these tend to play up the fear of annihilation. Think the "Terminator" series and any number of others over the years. Intelligent robots have supplanted space aliens as the destroyers of Earth (humanity).

I doubt it. First because an old joke is that artificial intelligence already exists... the vast majority of humans qualify. And, second, because I think AI will enhance our lives, even though I believe it will cost a huge number of jobs in the long run. Think about it: you would no longer have to explain that weird noise your car makes to a mechanic who won't know how to fix it anyway (but will claim to have and charge you greatly). The car will probably tell you what's wrong (in simple terms) and the (robot) mechanic will have a complete encyclopedia of your car stored in his memory bank, you won't have to explain anything; the robot will analyze the car and determine just what is wrong with it (assuming anything would be... cars are getting "smarter" already).

I think we spend an inordinate amount of time explain what we mean to others. AI could end that waste of time. Will we humans be jealous of the robots? Probably. Still, I think AI is inevitable.