Artificial Intelligence and Doomsday

https://secure.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/6/a/2/0/600_459747168.jpeg

Is AI an existential threat to humanity? This will be a philosophically oriented discussion of the issue (but we will have at least one AI expert in attendance). We will consider the work of the philosopher Nick Bostrom, the philosophical engine behind an idea which has been championed by Elon Musk, and supported by people such as Bill Gates, Steven Hawking, and Stuart Russell.

There is no required reading, but some potentially helpful links are below:

Good summary of the issues from Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Existential_risk_from_artificial_general_intelligence

An argument for AI safety, with a good table summarizing the various "myths" around advanced artificial intelligence - for example, the myth that machines cannot have goals, or the myth that potential AI consciousness is a relevant issue.

https://futureoflife.org/background/benefits-risks-of-artificial-intelligence/

Some profiles of a few prominent people involved in the AI safety movement:

Article about Bostrom:
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/11/23/doomsday-invention-artificial-intelligence-nick-bostrom

Article about Elon Musk's crusade:
http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/03/elon-musk-billion-dollar-crusade-to-stop-ai-space-x