I have to follow up yesterday’s exposure of what AI really is by unpacking this expression ‘superintelligence.’
One of the key American researchers (one of the foundation researchers) into artificial intelligence is Eliezer Yudkowsky (born, 1979).
After pioneering some of the big ideas behind artificial intelligence, he turned his attention to what he called a ‘runaway intelligence explosion.’
This was labelled ‘superintelligence’ by philosopher Nick Bostrom in his 2014 book of that name.
Yudkowsky is best known for his 2025 book If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies: Why AI Would Kill Us All.
Clearly these are people pushing an alarming doomsday scenario.
At some point, clearly, Yudkowsky’s enthusiasm for AI turned to fear, and he came to believe that a superintelligent machine could escape human control.
But his fear is no reason for the rest of us to start building underground bunkers and stocking up on canned food!
There are two things to remember:
(1) this is not real intelligence, it is ‘artificial’ intelligence—just an imitation of the real thing—and real, human intelligence will always have a quality that AI can never have; and
(2) this sort of thing happens with every new technology.
Possibly when our cave dwelling ancestors first discovered fire it may have taken them a while to work out that fire was a good servant, but a bad master.
They may have burnt down the odd tree or bush unintentionally until they discovered they needed a control device (called a ‘fireplace’—for them perhaps circle of stones) to keep their new invention under control.
So, there never will be any ‘superintelligence’ only ‘super-artificial-intelligence’ (which is not the same thing) and it seems as though everyone is alert to watch out for accompanying risks.
So you can sleep easy at night!
FOR A FREE SUBSCRIPTION TO THE DAILY NEWSLETTER SCOLL FURTHER DOWN THIS PAGE >>>>>>
BOOKS:
* My latest book is called Pray Like This. To look at prayer I do what I do in these Ozword columns: I go through the most famous prayer in the world (The Lord’s Prayer, also known as the Our Father) and unpack it word by word—each chapter being a short word-study on a key word in that prayer. There is a total of 21 words studies in all. To find out more, here’s a link to the publisher’s website (where you can buy a copy if you wish): Pray Like This – matthiasmedia.com.au
* My book is Sherlock Holmes: 5-Minute Mysteries -- containing 50 new stories I have written about the great detective. You can find it on Amazon. Just go to Amazon and type in Sherlock Holmes: 5-Minute Mysteries in the search panel. Or use this link: h Amazon.com.au : Sherlock Holmes 5-Minute Mysteries Kel Richards
* My book "Defending the Gospel" is now in a second, fully revised, edition. You can find it here: Defending the Gospel – matthiasmedia.com.au
* If you're looking for my recent book "Flash Jim" you'll find it here -- Flash Jim, The astonis
hing story of the convict fraudster who wrote Australia's first dictionary by Kel Richards | 9781460759769 | Booktopia
* You can find all Kel's books currently in print here -- Booktopia Search Results for 'kel richards'. We sell books, hardback, paperback, audio, CDs.
* And also here -- Amazon.com.au : Kel Richards
* And you'll find more here -- Search: 4 results found for "Kel Richards" – matthiasmedia.com.au
* Many of Kel's out of print books can be found at ABE Books -- Kel Richards - AbeBooks explaining words explain the term
BY THE WAY...
If you'd like to see my A-Z list of Aussie slang, you'll find it here in the Australian Geographic website -- A-Z list of Aussie slang. Here’s the link: The A-Z of Aussie slang - Australian Geographic
The liveliest part of this website is usually the Q and A page -- be sure to check it out from time to time.
