ABSTRACT
Many people today tend to underestimate the radically new powers that advanced robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) will bring into human affairs over the coming decades. These smart machines will make our lives easier; they will help us solve problems more quickly and effectively; they will take over many of the unpleasant tasks of sweat and drudgery that humans have to do today and offer us the leisure and freedom to embark on new and more creative endeavors. But there are risks and dangers implicit in these machines – just as there are risks and dangers inevitably associated with the advent of just about any powerful new technology. How will these smart new companions affect the functioning of our democratic societies? In this chapter, the author discusses six main areas of concern: loss of privacy; AI-facilitated tyranny (Orwell on steroids); AI-powered cyberwarfare escalating into a shooting war; chronic mass unemployment caused by rising automation; unintended effects or failure to control machine behaviors; and – last but not least – what might the world be like in the “best-case scenario,” if all goes as smoothly as possible, and we find ourselves coexisting with brilliantly benevolent machines all over the place?
