The Language of Deception

Chapter 7Weaponizing Social Intelligence

Thanks to science fiction, it is easy to imagine a future in which machines might rise up and wage war against humanity. Movies like The Terminator, I, Robot, The Matrix, and countless others all portray such a grim future. The popular HBO television show West World was essentially Jurassic Park, but with AI robots instead of dinosaurs. Both worlds were inspired by the same great storyteller and American novelist, Michael Crichton. In West World, an amusement park is created and filled with highly sophisticated AI systems that become sentient and manage to revolt against their creators and escape. Given the obvious parallels between these two cautionary tales, it will likely come as no surprise that many AI ethicists have also referred to a well-known quote from the original Jurassic Park movie when discussing AI risk. When addressing the risk of unchecked scientific innovation, Dr. Ian Malcolm (played by actor Jeff Goldblum) warned:

Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should (Spielberg, 1993).

This quote does a brilliant job of highlighting the common societal trend of engaging in rapid technological innovation without forethought or consideration of the potential consequences. At this stage, unfortunately, there is no going back. Once opened, Pandora's box is not so easily closed. It is imperative that we, as a society, begin reflecting upon the potential risks that ...