Former Google executives warned of the development of artificial intelligence (AI) which they fear could bring disaster to mankind.
This was revealed by former Google X Chief Business Officer Mo Gawdat. Google X itself is one of Google's divisions tasked with developing ambitious projects, including robotics and AI.
In an interview with The Times, Gawdat said the presence of general artificial intelligence (AGI) is inevitable and could threaten humanity. AGI itself is a very powerful and conscious AI, much like Skynet in the Terminator movie or Ultron in the Avengers movie.
Gadwat said he came to realize this while working with AI researchers at Google who are developing a robotic arm that can perform simple tasks such as finding and retrieving small balls.
After a long period of not seeing progress, Gawdat said suddenly one of the robot's arms grabbed the ball and showed it to researchers in a showy gesture.
"And suddenly I realized this was really scary. It really made me freeze," said Gawdat, as quoted from Futurism, Tuesday (5/10/2021).
"The reality is we are creating God," he continued.
The concern about AI advancements as expressed by Gawdat is not new. People like Elon Musk have even warned several times about the dangers of AI that can surpass human intelligence.
This has also long been a theory called singularities, or a time when AI progressed so far that it overtook human intelligence and then transformed civilization.
Expert views regarding the presence of AGI or AI on par with humans vary. Some predict human-level AI will be present in the next 10 years, some say in the next 20 years.
