Artificial intelligence is the modern form of magic. AI has the capacity to usher in a paradise in which we live longer, healthier lives in abundance, with freedoms once imagined only in science fiction. On the other hand, AI also has the potential to exterminate the human race.
A stable middle ground is highly unlikely. One of these futures could arrive within just a few years. This article aims to explain AI, how it works, and the stepping stones towards artificial superintelligence that could either liberate us or destroy us.
AI: History and Mechanics
A major breakthrough occurred in 2017 with Google's paper 'Attention Is All You Need', which introduced the transformer architecture that underpins virtually all modern AI systems. The transformer enabled parallel processing, models with over a trillion parameters, and deployment across vast data centres.
One unsettling fact is that no one — including the world's leading AI scientists — fully understands how or why advanced AI systems work internally. Although humans build the systems, AI development is increasingly described as something that is grown rather than engineered.
