Justin Andress
Any rational person knows that its only a matter of time before the robots seek to put humanity under the metal thumb of oppression. Duh. What’s worse, it seems as though our brightest minds are completely devoted to making sure human beings are a thing of the past. As we begin the slow march to our own inevitable demise, it’s important to keep an eye on the state of technology and the brilliant minds that are hastening our road to the end. Maybe, if we pay close enough attention (and get a few more Stephen Hawkings on our team), we can avoid what seems to be so likely. It’s happening sooner than you think, too. So, here, for your information and your inevitable safety, are 10 of the scariest advancements in AI. Skynet is just around the corner.
1. Checkers is Solved
All the way back in 2007, scientists at the University of Alberta completed a nearly twenty year project and created an unbeatable checkers-playing robot. Sifting through 500 billion billion (a five followed by 20 zeroes) checkers positions, Dr. Jonathan Schaeffer and his colleagues released Chinook, a machine with a record so good the best you can hope for is to tie it. Around 50 computers ran everyday computing the knowledge and combinations necessary to make Chinook unbeatable.
