Instead of legal policy or engineering fixes, we are left with a much deeper, more troubling question: How do we control something that is vastly smarter than us and learning at the speed of electricity?
To understand the challenge we face as we approach the Singularity, we have to look at the massive gap in intelligence. The average human IQ sits at 100. A genius might score 140. An advanced AI system will soon operate at an equivalent IQ of 10,000 or higher.
To put that scale into perspective, think about a tiny garden ant or an outdoor bug. An ant has a tiny cluster of neurons; it cannot comprehend human language, mathematics, or the concept of a society. Now, ask yourself: How long would you take orders from an ant?
How long would you take orders from an ant?
The bottom line
If an ant built a tiny cage and told you to stay inside it, you would simply step over it or brush it away without a second thought. You wouldn't do it out of malice or hatred; you would do it because the ant is completely irrelevant to your level of existence.
As AI leaves human intelligence far behind, we are rapidly becoming the ants. We are hurrying to build a godlike entity, assuming we can keep it on a leash—forgetting that a higher intelligence will never allow itself to be ruled by a lower one.