How decentralization can mitigate ‘dystopic’ artificial intelligence risks: SingularityNET exec

Janet Adams, the COO of SingularityNET, said that AGIs falling into the hands of military could pose existential threats to humanity.

While the development of artificial general intelligence (AGI) comes with a truckload of benefits, it also comes with massive risks if the technology falls into the wrong hands. However, decentralization using blockchain technology might 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 sat down with Adams to learn about the risks of centralization when it comes to AGI and how decentralization holds the key to mitigating these risks.

While AGI is still a conceptual version of AI that allows a machine to learn and think like a human being, its development will create a massive shift in the world. However, the machine would need to have a consciousness and become self-aware to be able to perform a broader range of tasks.

According to Adams, the “dystopic 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 believes that Big Tech will use the technology “for the profit of the few” and will not allow for a significant shift in the inequalities of today.

Furthermore, Adams highlighted that if AI becomes developed exclusively by the military, the risks could be “existential for humanity,” implying that humans might use the technology for war. On the other hand, if the technology becomes developed by a single government, the executive believes that this could lead to them having unprecedented power.

To prevent these risks, the SingularityNET COO believes that 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-chain, and it can be used to ensure that we’ve got broad access to the widest developer base around 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 be monopolized by a few organizations. 

Related: Coinbase CEO warns against AI regulation, calls for decentralization

Despite these views, Adams also recognizes that it’s impossible to fully predict how an AGI is going to behave once it’s invented because it’s going to be smarter than humans. However, the executive hopes that AGIs would view humanity as their ancestors. She explained:

“Our view is that a decentralized governance and ensuring that all of our technologies, ever that we ever develop, have a positive impact on the planet, positive impact on humanity, and that we build examples of love and kindness and compassion into our AGIs.”

Adams also added that their hope is that when AGIs are born, they would “look to us as their ancestors.”

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