While the development of artificial general intelligence (AGI) brings a host of benefits, it also comes with enormous risks if the technology falls into the wrong hands. However, decentralization using blockchain technology could help prevent a catastrophe, according to Janet Adams, the chief operating officer of the artificial intelligence and Web3-focused project SingularityNET.
At the Future Blockchain Summit event in Dubai, Cointelegraph spoke with Adams to learn more about the risks of centralization when it comes to AGI and how decentralization is key to mitigating these risks.
Ezra Reguerra of Cointelegraph with Janet Adams of SingularityNET at the Future Blockchain Summit in Dubai. Source: Ana Solana
While AGI is still a conceptual version of AI that allows a machine to learn and think like a human, its development will bring enormous change to the world. However, the machine would have to have consciousness and become self-aware to perform a wider range of tasks.
According to Adams, the “dystopian future” that many imagine when it comes to AGI could potentially happen if the technology is monopolized by Big Tech companies, the military or the government. The executive branch believes that Big Tech will use technology “for the profit of a few” and will not allow a significant shift in today’s inequality.
Furthermore, Adams emphasized that if AI is developed exclusively by the military, the risks could be “existential to humanity,” implying that humans could use the technology for war. On the other hand, if the technology is developed by a single government, the executive branch believes this could result in that government gaining unprecedented power.
To avoid these risks, the COO of SingularityNET believes it is important to decentralize the development of artificial general intelligence using blockchain technology. Adams explained that:
“Blockchain is the fabric of decentralization. It can be used to enable AI-to-AI financial transactions on the chain, and it can be used to ensure we have broad access to the widest developer base in the world for open-source AI development.”
Adams noted that decentralization would allow AGIs to be used for the benefit of everyone and not just monopolized by a few organizations.
Related: Coinbase CEO warns against AI regulation and calls for decentralization
Despite these views, Adams also acknowledges that it is impossible to fully predict how an AGI will behave once it is invented because it will be smarter than humans. However, the executive hopes that AGIs will consider humanity as their ancestors. She explained:
“Our vision is that decentralized governance and ensuring that all our technologies that we ever develop have a positive impact on the planet, a positive impact on humanity, and that we build examples of love, kindness and compassion into our AGIs . ”
Adams also added that they hope that when AGIs are born, they will “look to us as their ancestors.”
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