Bilkent ACM SIGART (Special Interest Group on Artificial Intelligence)

Discussion,

The ultimate goal of strong artificial intelligence research is the construction of artificial minds. If that goal is ever achieved, we may safely assume that the intellectual capabilities of AI robots will eventually far exceed those of human beings.

Once we lose our intellectual superiority what will be our fate? Will we survive indefinitely as intellectually inferior beings, even slaves, and watch while our creations colonize the galaxy and discover the secrets of the universe? Or will our civilization crumble and vanish to give way to the superior civilization of our ex-servants? Would we turn into a race of parasites? Would we even be allowed to continue to live?

Such senarios, once the stuff of science fiction, now seem like frighteningly real possibilities. Should we consider limiting research in AI to avoid such dreadful consequences? Similar concerns have already become apparent in other high-tech fields such as genetics, nuclear physics and cryogenics. Do we have the right or even the power to restrict scientific research in particular fields?