• Question: is it true that after a hundred years there will be robots everywhere

    Asked by ammu to Pip, Kate, Reka on 17 Nov 2016. This question was also asked by amazing a bhatti.
    • Photo: Pip Millington

      Pip Millington answered on 17 Nov 2016:

      There are a range of views on this topic and no-one knows for sure so I’ll just tell you what I personally think – yes.

      Technology changes more quickly now that at any other point in history. Imagine someone from 100 years ago seeing us all use smartphones and laptops and making cars out of precision robotic arms. I think the difference would be shocking to them. Life now could not have been comprehended 100 years ago and yet things will probably change as much in the next 10 years as they have in the last 100. Part of the reason for this is automation, not only in respect to robots taking over the jobs of humans and doing them better (and for less pay!) but also in respect to software programs.

      It’s not unthinkable that one day in the next 100 years there will be a computer program which is able to edit itself more effectively than humans can or is able to design better machines than humans. If machines can become more intelligent than humans then they can become WAY MORE intelligent than humans VERY RAPIDLY. This concept is called the technological singularity. You could say there is a very real possibility of machines taking over the world.

      If this scares you, good! It scares me too!

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