Will Artificial Intelligence Replace Mankind?

From the first imaginative thought to manipulate nature to the development of complex astronomical concepts of space exploration, man continues to this day to innovate and invent products or methods that improve and enhance humankind. Though it has taken 150 million years to reach current day, the intellectual journey was not gradual in a linear sense. If one was to plot significant events occurring throughout human existence, Mankind’s ability to construct new ideas follows a logarithmic path, and is rapidly approaching an asymptote, or technological singularity. This singularity event has scientists both supporting and rejecting the concept of an imaginative plateau; the largest topic discussed is Artificial Intelligence (A.I.). When this technological singularity is reached, it is hypothesized that man’s greatest creation, an artificial sapient being, will supersede human brain capacity. According to some, this event will lead to the extermination of mankind as humans are deemed obsolete. Yet others are projecting a mergence between A.I. and Humanity, a gradual conversion of man and machine. Will the projected apex of our technical evolution be a gradual or abrupt end of mankind?

The Technological singularity is defined by three concepts: 1.) the moment when an artificial intelligence becomes super intelligent, capable of improving itself more rapidly than the greatest human mind, 2.) Scientific breakthroughs rise extra exponentially, with the potential of new ideas every few seconds, and 3.) The point at which the future cannot be predicted beyond in a scientific sense.

Looking solely at the first concept, technological singularity is the most pressing in today’s society especially with multiple films depicting apoc...

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...achines will think for man. At this point a logical A.I. may realize man’s intellectual fallibility and destroy the weaker species for resource control. In other words A.I. seeks self-preservation with the destruction of Mankind. One survey entry responded with a side note that could be a more accurate destruction of mankind. Man himself will destroy himself long before he is ever granted the chance to create an artificially formidable or superior enemy.

Whether or not A.I. does replace mankind one should not dismiss that this rapidly approaching technological singularity phenomena is reality. Great change has happened, is happening, and will continue to happen as long as the ability to learn exists, organic or artificial. So when humanity reaches its climax and does end, it is known that it is not the end of knowledge, it is a new direction towards knowledge.