Feb 24, 2024 3 min read

“2001: A Space Odyssey” is justly considered one of the greatest movies ever made, and its most memorable character isn’t even human.

That honor goes to the Heuristically Programmed Algorithmic Computer 9000, known in shorthand as HAL. The supercomputer monitors all the activity onboard a spaceship carrying two American astronauts on a mission to Jupiter. HAL speaks in an unsettlingly soft, calm, even voice and is seemingly benign enough that it plays chess with one of the astronauts.

Then HAL goes rogue, killing one astronaut and almost finishing off the other before it is methodically disconnected. As its life is ebbing away, HAL says – again, softly, calmly, evenly – “I’m afraid.” It’s the most strikingly human moment in the film.

When “2001: A Space Odyssey” was released in 1968, HAL and the whole notion of artificial intelligence were the stuff of science fiction, something looming in a far-off future. But that future is getting ever closer. The development of artificial intelligence is like a train barreling down the tracks, and the rapid pace at which it is evolving leaves room for some hope and no small amount of trepidation.

That point was made clear by Joseph Yun at South Fayette High School earlier this month. The artificial intelligence and innovation architect at the University of Pittsburgh, Yun is immersed in the world of artificial intelligence – AI, for short – and he admitted that even he is not sure how he is going to help his young children navigate this new world.

“I wish we could slow it down or put a pause on it,” Yun said. “This is just moving too fast.” He also warned that AI is “getting smarter.”

With its seemingly bottomless access to data, AI could be a boon to mankind – it could lead to a procession of health care advances, carry out repetitive tasks, reduce costs, is not prone to human error and is available around the clock. What’s not to like?

Well, artificial intelligence could render millions of jobs superfluous. A report from Goldman Sachs found that AI could sweep away at least one-fourth of all the jobs in the United States and Europe, affecting teachers, doctors and many other types of professions you would think would demand a human touch.

AI can also be used to manipulate and deceive, as we’ve seen in recent weeks through fake explicit photos of Taylor Swift that have circulated on the internet, and automated phone calls to voters in New Hampshire from a counterfeit President Biden. Our ability to distinguish truth from fiction could be even more impaired than it already is.

Then there is also the darkest of all possibilities – that AI becomes appreciably smarter than us, and decides it doesn’t need or want us around anymore, just like HAL.

No less an eminence that the late theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking declared that “the development of artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race.”

What can be done if AI’s growth is inevitable? The Federal Communications Commission has banned the use of AI-generated voices in robocalls, so that’s a start. The federal government, as well as our allies in the developed world, need to put up guardrails on AI, and work with tech companies. The need is becoming more urgent to educate everyone about AI and how it can be used – and abused.

Yun said that we should be both optimistic and realistic when it comes to AI. We need to take steps now to make sure it is more promising than threatening.