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Name: Human Compatible
Rating: 4.4 (684 reviews)
Author: Stuart Russell

Stuart Russell

Artificial Intelligence and the Problem of Control

4.4 (684 ratings)

22 mins

Brief summary

Human Compatible by Stuart Russell is a thought-provoking read on the future of artificial intelligence. It delves into the risks that AI poses to our civilization, and proposes solutions for ensuring a safe and desirable outcome.

Topics

Human-Machine Interaction Artificial Intelligence

Table of Contents

Human Compatible
Summary of 6 key ideas

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Key idea 1 of 6

What’s in it for me? Rethink your fundamental assumptions about AI.

Artificial intelligence will be the defining technology of the future. Already, AI is rapidly pervading all levels of society: individuals willfully bring AI into their homes to help them organize their daily lives, city councils and corporations employ AI to help optimize their services, and states take advantage of AI to undertake large scale surveillance and social engineering campaigns. But as AI becomes more intelligent – and our social systems come more and more to depend on it – the threat presented by out-of-control AI becomes more dire.

The risks and downsides of new technologies are far too often left unexplored, as scientists and engineers fixate on their feverish quest to realize the utopias of the future. In fact, many AI experts and corporate high-ups even downplay the risks of AI out of fear of being more strictly regulated.

These blinks attempt to remedy this imbalance. The question of how to control AI and mitigate its more disastrous consequences is the biggest question facing humanity today, and it’s precisely this question we’ll explore.

In these blinks, you’ll learn

how today’s supercomputers compare to the human brain;
what a legendary ancient king has to teach us about modern AI; and
why automated weapons technology is making life more insecure for everybody.

We need several breakthroughs in software before AI surpasses human intelligence.

Today’s computers can process information at astounding speeds. But even as early as the 1950s, computers were being touted as super-brains that are “faster than Einstein.”

Of course, computers back then had nothing on the human brain. But we still compared the two. In fact, from the very beginning of computer science, we’ve tended to measure computational intelligence – and progress – against human intelligence.

So, what about today’s computers? Some of them, surely, can give us a run for our money?

The key message here is: We need several breakthroughs in software before AI surpasses human intelligence.

The fastest computer in the world today is the Summit Machine, housed at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the US. Compared to the world’s first commercial computer, the Ferranti Mark 1, the Summit Machine is 1,000 trillion times faster and has 250 trillion times more memory. That’s a lot of zeros.

In terms of raw computing power, the Summit Machine actually slightly exceeds the human brain, although it requires a warehouse full of hardware and a million times more energy.

Still, it’s impressive. But can we say that today’s supercomputers – the Summit Machine included – are as powerful as the human brain? The answer is decidedly no.

Sure, these computers have impressive hardware, which allows their algorithms to operate faster and process more information. But there’s far more to intelligence than just processing speed.

The real problem in designing intelligence is in the software. As of now, we still need several major conceptual breakthroughs in AI software before we witness anything resembling human-level artificial intelligence.

The most important breakthrough we need is in the comprehension of language. Most of today’s intelligent speech recognition AI are based on canned responses and have trouble interpreting nuances in meaning. That’s why you get stories of smartphone personal assistants responding to the request ‘call me an ambulance’ with ‘ok, from now on, I’ll call you Ann Ambulance.’ Genuinely intelligent AI will need to interpret meaning based not just on the words said but on their context and tone as well.

We can never really say when conceptual breakthroughs will take place. But one thing’s for sure – we shouldn’t underestimate human ingenuity.

Consider the following example. In 1933, the distinguished nuclear physicist Ernest Rutherford announced at a formal address that harnessing nuclear energy was impossible. The very next day, the Hungarian physicist Leó Szilárd outlined the neutron-induced nuclear chain reaction, essentially solving the problem.

We don’t yet know whether superintelligence – intelligence beyond human abilities – will emerge soon, later or not at all. But it’s still prudent to take precautions, just as it was when designing nuclear technology.

We’ve been operating under a misguided conception of intelligence.

If we don’t treat AI with caution, we may end up like the gorilla.

Just consider that, thanks to human-caused habitat loss, every gorilla species today is critically endangered. Sure, in recent decades conservation efforts have successfully pulled some species back from the brink of extinction. But, whether gorilla numbers dwindle or thrive, their fate depends largely on the whims of humans.

Instead of just intelligent machines, we should be designing beneficial machines.

Until now, the mantra among AI researchers has been: the more intelligent the better. But is this really what they should be chanting?

As we’ve just seen, an AI given a carelessly stated objective can end up engaging in very harmful behavior. And it’s not much consolation if the AI engages in harmful behavior intelligently – if anything, it makes it worse.

We can expect AI to benefit us in many ways.

It’s been reported that some virtual home assistants, unable to differentiate who’s talking to them, have been obeying commands to buy products that they’ve overheard on the television. Clearly, virtual assistants aren’t quite superintelligent yet.

But this is going to change.

AI is going to make life less secure for everyone.

The Stasi of former East Germany were one of the most effective and repressive intelligence agencies ever to have existed. They kept files on the majority of East German households, listening to their phone calls, reading their letters, and even placing hidden cameras within their homes. This was all done by humans and written on paper, requiring a vast bureaucracy and massive storage units containing literally billions of physical paper records.

Just imagine what the Stasi could have done with AI. With superintelligent AI, it would be possible to monitor everyone’s phone calls and messages automatically. People’s daily movements could also be tracked, using surveillance cameras and satellite data. It would be as though every person had their own operative watching over them 24 hours a day.

Mass automation will either liberate humanity’s potential or debilitate it.

We’ve just looked at three terrifying scenarios that could be caused by AI. But we haven’t yet considered what is perhaps the most worrying and socially destructive threat from AI: automation.

Automation may well grant more people access to important services like healthcare and legal advice. But it could also cause widespread unemployment. Exactly how much of a threat this is is open to debate. Optimists point out that in every previous industrial revolution, automation produced at least as many jobs as it eradicated. If you look at the research, however, it shows that over the past 40 years, jobs have fallen significantly in every industry that has implemented automation technology.

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What is Human Compatible about?

Human Compatible (2019) explains why the creation of a superintelligent artificial intelligence could be humanity’s final act. The blinks call to attention the potential catastrophe that humanity is heading towards, and discuss what needs to be done to avoid it. If we’re to ensure AI remains beneficial to humans in the long run, we may need to radically rethink its design.

Human Compatible Review

Human Compatible (2019) explores the ethical challenges posed by the rise of artificial intelligence and offers a roadmap for ensuring its safe and beneficial integration into society. Here's why this book is worth reading:

It provides a comprehensive analysis of the risks and benefits of AI, giving readers a clear understanding of the potential consequences.
Backed by scientific research and expert insights, the book offers practical solutions, guiding readers toward a future where AI serves human values.
With its engaging examples and thought-provoking scenarios, it brings the complex topic of AI ethics to life, ensuring the book is anything but boring.

Best quote from Human Compatible

Autonomous weapons will greatly reduce human security at all levels: personal, local, national, and international.

—Stuart Russell

Who should read Human Compatible?

AI specialists who could benefit from a new approach to AI design
Students of AI looking for an overview of its key problems
Anyone concerned about how AI is likely to transform society in the near future

About the Author

Stuart Russell is a professor of computer science at the University of California, Berkeley. A leading AI researcher, Russell has served as vice-chair of the World Economic Forum’s Council on AI and Robotics and as an advisor to the UN regarding arms control. He’s also coauthor of the definitive and universally acclaimed textbook on AI – Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach (1994) – which is the number one best-selling textbook on AI and is used in over 1,400 universities in 128 countries around the world.

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Technology & the Future Society & Culture

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