In the myth of Prometheus, the titan bestowed upon humanity the forbidden gift of fire, symbolizing the dawn of civilization and the power of human ingenuity. Today, artificial intelligence can be seen as our era’s Promethean flame — a tool of unprecedented potential that presents the possibility of both large rewards and colossal risks.
Virtually every day headlines announce new possible benefits of AI in a wide range of fields. And every day, fresh concerns emerge about how errors in AI algorithms can lead to tragic decisions, about how disruptive AI can be for industries and society. Then there is the nightmare scenario in which AI reaches technological singularity, a seismic transformation in which machines autonomously enhance their own capabilities and humankind is no longer their master.
AI can light the way forward, but handled improperly, it could easily burn everything down. The fundamental question is: How do we harness this power without getting burned?