Has artificial intelligence officially arrived? It’s something that has been hinted at in pop culture for decades. Now, thanks in part to innovations like the language-processing tool ChatGPT, some believe the era of AI technology has begun.
Not so fast, says Straight Arrow News contributor Peter Zeihan. He suggests that breakthroughs like ChatGPT and self-driving cars may make it sound like the future is here, but it will be decades before we see true self-functioning AI in society.
Excerpted from Peter’s Jan. 30 “Zeihan on Geopolitics” newsletter:
Today we answer the question that’s been in the back of everyone’s mind since The Terminator came out – is Skynet taking over? The short answer is no, but let me explain…
The AI capable of decision-making and judgment (i.e., Skynet) is nowhere near being ready to go, and won’t be for at least another 30+ years. On the other hand, applied AI (i.e., mission-specific and code-driven) is great at completing tasks as long as it’s written into its program.
So AI that’s used as a copywriter or chatbot is already up and running, but the omnipotent robots that hunt us down and try to take over the world…ya, not happening anytime soon. The biggest takeaway is that change is coming, but not in the scary revolution type of way that we’ve been hearing about for years.