Artificial intelligence (AI) has been around for decades, but this year was a breakout for the spooky technology, with OpenAI’s ChatGPT creating accessible, practical AI for the masses. AI, however, has a checkered history, and today’s technology was preceded by a short track record of failed experiments.
For the most part, innovations in AI seem poised to improve things like medical diagnostics and scientific discovery. One AI model can, for example, detect whether you’re at high risk of developing lung cancer by analyzing an X-ray scan. During COVID-19, scientists also built an algorithm that could diagnose the virus by listening to subtle differences in the sound of people’s coughs. AI has also been used to design quantum physics experiments beyond what humans have conceived.
But not all the innovations are so benign. From killer drones to AI that threatens humanity’s future, here are some of the scariest AI breakthroughs likely to come in 2024.
Q* — the age of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI)?
We don’t know why exactly OpenAI CEO Sam Altman was dismissed and reinstated in late 2023. But amid corporate chaos at OpenAI, rumors swirled of an advanced technology that could threaten the future of humanity. That OpenAI system, called Q* (pronounced Q-star) may embody the potentially groundbreaking realization of artificial general intelligence (AGI), Reuters reported. Little is known about this mysterious system, but should reports be true, it could kick AI’s capabilities up several notches.
Related: AI is transforming every aspect of science. Here’s how.
AGI is a hypothetical tipping point, also known as the “Singularity,” in which AI becomes smarter than humans. Current generations of AI still lag in areas in which humans excel, such as context-based reasoning and genuine creativity. Most, if not all, AI-generated content is just regurgitating, in some way, the data used to train it.
But AGI could potentially perform particular jobs better than most people, scientists have said. It could also be weaponized and used, for example, to create enhanced pathogens, launch massive cyber attacks, or orchestrate mass manipulation.
The idea of AGI has long been…
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