Skip to main content current edition: International edition The Guardian - Back to home Become a supporter Subscribe Find a job Jobs Sign in Search Show More Close with google sign in become a supporter subscribe search find a job dating more from the guardian: change edition: edition International edition The Guardian - Back to home browse all sections close Artificial intelligence (AI) The Observer Artificial intelligence: how clever do we want our machines to be?
 The theory of artificial intelligence is already fact in some financial and transport sectors, yet as its uses become more widespread – and perhaps threatening – how do we ensure we control it rather than vice versa?
 Ex Machina Photograph: Film4/Sportsphoto Ltd/Allstar Artificial intelligence (AI) The Observer Artificial intelligence: how clever do we want our machines to be?
 The theory of artificial intelligence is already fact in some financial and transport sectors, yet as its uses become more widespread – and perhaps threatening – how do we ensure we control it rather than vice versa?
 Alex Hern Alex Hern @alexhern Sat 29 Nov ‘14 19.
--
 And so long as Silicon Valley companies such as Google and Facebook continue to acquire AI firms and hire AI experts, AI’s IQ will continue to rise… Isn’t AI a Steven Spielberg movie?
 No arguments there, but the term, which stands for “artificial intelligence”, has a more storied history than Spielberg and Kubrick’s 2001 film.
 The concept of artificial intelligence goes back to the birth of computing: in 1950, just 14 years after defining the concept of a general-purpose computer, Alan Turing asked “Can machines think?
” AI Facebook Twitter Pinterest Jude Law as Gigolo Joe (and pals) in Spielberg and Kubrick’s 2001 film AI.
--
 Well, not quite.
 Even if we manage to not get wiped out by malicious AI, there’s still the issue of how society adapts to the increasing capability of artificial intelligence.
 The Industrial Revolution was characterised by the automation of a number of jobs that previously relied on manual labour.