Ok, so full disclosure here, I hadn't really been paying attention 'much' to the AI debate. I've heard Sam Harris talk about it a bit, and Elon Musk, but generally I figured it was a future thing that probably wouldn't happen in my lifetime, however, it seems the experts in this field largely feel differently, and that it is something of such great importance that we should really be talking about it now and not later. AI is one of those things that humanity simply cannot react to, we have to be proactive. At least, that's the message I'm hearing now that I've started reading a bit more on the subject. Anyway, I ran across an article written by a fellow named Tim Urban, and while I'm sure much of what he said is subject for debate, the basic takeaway is we appear to be closer to an actual AI than I had imagined, and that an ASI (Artificial Super Intelligence) could potentially occur later that day and if we haven't already taken necessary steps that could either be very good, or very bad for humanity. I'll link the two part article he wrote, if you think the first part is long...the 2nd part is much much longer.
http://waitbutwhy.com/2015/01/artificial-intelligence-revolution-1.html
http://waitbutwhy.com/2015/01/artificial-intelligence-revolution-2.html
Anyway, there are plenty of really intelligent people in these forums, and I'm just curious what others had to think about this subject, the article, and the potential impacts on humanity (and beyond).
