Will computers with artificial intelligence ever rise up in an attempt to take over the world? Reading a question like that, one is apt to snap off a quick “Don’t be stupid. Machines will never be able to take over the world. You must be watching and/or reading too much science fiction crap.” But, on second thought, is that really such an unreasonable question to ask based on how much science fiction has already become scientific reality?
In 1928 Anthony “Buck” Rogers made the scene in two Sci-Fi novellas by Phillip Francis Nowlan. Following those two novellas were a syndicated comic strip, the Buck Roger’s radio serial in 1932 and then the television serial in 1950. Millions of kids read that comic strip, listen to the radio programs and watched “Buck’s” space adventures on TV. As a young child I watched Buck in awe as he few his rocket ship through space and dreamed of the day when I would travel in space to the moon and beyond. Of course, none of the adults of that day ever took space flight seriously, but all that changed in October of 1957 with the launch of Sputnik 1. Then we walked on the moon in 1969. Suddenly Buck Rogers’s escapades didn’t seem so far-fetched after all.
George Orwell published “1984” in 1949. His novel was acclaimed to be the definitive dystopian novel of its time. In this novel, big brother was both omnipotent and omnipresent. At the time people thought of “1984” as pure science fiction, pure fantasy, but look at where we are today in the world of surveillance technology. We have spies in the sky, satellites so powerful that they can look down on the earth and read the license plate number on a car. We have IR (Infrared) cameras and gun sights that allow us to see the movement of people through solid concrete wall. What was sheer fantasy in 1949 has become reality.
How many of us use to follow the adventures of Dick Tracy and his video telephone watch. Well, LG Electronics started manufacturing their 3G Watch Phone in late 2007.
Today we have AI programs that allow computers to converse intelligently with their human operators. We have neural network systems that have the capability to “learn” through their experiences. Thinking back on all the science fiction that has become scientific realities, is “Sky Net” of the “Terminator” movies such a far fetched idea?
