Book Review: Building A God by Christopher DiCarlo
A book about the challenges human race may have to face if they succeeds in building a super-intelligent AI entity.
Given enough computing power, data, and time, it is inevitable that at some point in our not-too-distant future, we will succeed in creating a form of intelligence that far surpasses our own. And when that time comes—and it really appears to be a matter of when, not if—how will such a being respond to us? How will such a godlike being react to our attempts for control and guidance? The answer is a bit unsettling: No one knows.
Some inventions permanently alter the world. Consider agriculture. It made settlers out of a bunch of nomads and, over time, turned them into the masters of ecology, transforming a sizeable part of the earth forever. A recent such invention is that of the internet, which, in a few decades, fundamentally transformed the way humans lived for millennia. But what's cooking behind the screen, the delicious waft of which has begun to assault us slowly, is a much larger thing. Something that may ultimately turn our world into a plentiful utopia or a scary dystopia.
Artificial intelligence, or AI, is currently making swift strides in our lives, altering, manipulating, and even dictating how we should live it. In his book, "Building a God," renowned ethicist Christopher DiCarlo tries to delve deep into the human strive to create a 'Super-intelligent Machine God' and find out what would be the long-term effects of it. He tries to provide us a guide on how to navigate safely in a world that our tech giants are eager to hand over to the control of an entity that's created from human ingenuity, without any idea how it may respond to us. I received an advance review copy from the publisher, Globe Pequot, through NetGalley in exchange for honest feedback.
The writer strongly believes that once the threshold of the present state of AI, that of Artificial Narrow Intelligence (ANI), which is weak and is ordered to follow a specific set of commands, is crossed, then machines get culturally developed to become Artificial General Intelligence, which are self-thinking and long-term planning beings on par with humans, or if it exceeds to become Artificial Super Intelligence, that could surpass the cumulative intelligence of the entire human race, they could go out of control and cause an existential danger to us. He urges world governments, tech behemoths, and even common citizens to be aware of this danger and start planning and implementing measures to prevent this existential threat.
The book is divided into two parts. In the first part, the writer gives an introduction to his readers about AI technology, its history, the present stage, and what we could expect from the future. He also lists out various benefits, harms, and risks that this disruptive technology poses to humans. It should be noted that the writer is not pessimistic in his approach. He appreciates all the good things that could be achieved through AI but strongly advocates caution in our approach to its further development. Though there are several ways AI could cause harm to us, he posits that it's the existential threat that's the most serious and needs a concentrated effort from all to prevent it.
The second part, which is the core of the book, uses principles of ethical reasoning and critical thinking to find out how to address this issue before the technology goes out of hand. The first chapter in this part is very informative about the above techniques of problem-solving and also on the urgency of the situation at hand. It tries to put forward practical and effective solutions that could help us to 'align, control, contain, or stop' the emergence of a super-intelligent AI being. The second chapter updates the reader on the present situation of how the issue is handled by governments. Though many major powers have already passed legislation on AI, the writer laments that none of them seems to have identified the existential threat it poses.
In the final chapter, the writer wraps up by giving an estimation of the future of AI and cautioning all about the threats to humanity that 'building a god' could create. It also contains directions to the common laypeople about how they too can be a part of the movement to compel the global governments and tech giants to put control on the behemoth they are eager to unlock. "Building a God" is a book that's highly informative and perspective-building. It compels its readers to sit up and actively notice the very important development that is presently occurring around them.