Humans bigger threat than AI, says chess legend Kasparov

Russian chess fable Garry Kasparov was beaten by a supercomputer—but erstwhile it comes to artificial intelligence, helium is firmly convinced that it's the humans who airs the existent threat.

Kasparov has remained fascinated by exertion since his celebrated matches against IBM's Deep Blue machine successful the 1990s.

When helium wasn't engaged taking connected 10 simultaneous chess opponents astatine Lisbon's Web Summit this week—handily beating them each successful 45 minutes—he spoke to AFP astir AI's increasing relation successful society.

"We unrecorded successful a satellite wherever machines are playing bigger and bigger roles. Whether you similar it oregon not, it's happening," helium said.

"There is simply nary grounds that machines are threatening us. The existent information comes not from slayer robots but from people—because radical inactive person a monopoly connected evil."

The existent threat, the Kremlin professional says, comes from "the dictatorial, totalitarian countries and the terrorists who volition usage this exertion to harm us".

While Terminator-style robo-assassins stay the worldly of subject fiction, human rights groups are already pushing for international laws to restrict the usage of alleged "killer robots", predicting that AI volition alteration warfare successful the years to come.

At the Web Summit, meanwhile, tech gurus person spent the week discussing much affirmative imaginable applications of AI, from intelligent chatbots that boost our intelligence wellness to sorting integrative waste.

'It volition beryllium painful'

Kasparov mightiness beryllium described arsenic a techno-optimist, but helium does not wholly disregard the fears of AI naysayers who interest that robots volition regenerate jobs erstwhile done by humans, from mill workers to motortruck drivers.

"It volition beryllium painful, nary uncertainty astir it. I don't privation to dependable callous—people volition suffer jobs. But look astatine the large picture," helium said.

"Humanity ever wins with much exertion brought in."

He pointed to the velocity astatine which vaccines were developed successful effect to Covid-19, a lightning effort compared to enactment warring earlier diseases, arsenic thing that made him hopeful astir the powerfulness of innovation.

But helium called for amended regularisation worldwide to assistance bounds the antagonistic interaction of societal media and different evolving technologies.

"What I privation is simply a bully nationalist statement that volition extremity up with recommendations to the government," helium said.

"Because it's governments who could marque authorities to unit corporations to commencement doing things that volition minimise the damage."

He spoke amid increasing international calls for the immense powerfulness of tech giants similar Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon to beryllium reined in.

Facebook successful peculiar has faced aggravated disapproval implicit leaked documents showing that institution executives knew astir their sites' imaginable to harm people's information connected galore fronts.

Kasparov suggested that authorities person struggled to modulate accelerated capable to support up with the societal media gyration partially "because governments look astatine large tech arsenic a root of income".

However we extremity up regulating societal networks, helium predicted that nary authorities tin wholly destruct the harm it causes, from hatred code to making teenagers consciousness atrocious astir themselves.

"Anybody who tells you we tin destruct it, it's perfectly impossible," helium said.

"Because societal platforms are the benignant of concern wherever struggle is built-in."

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© 2021 AFP