Will computers ever be smarter than humans?

Question

I know that computers can calculate millions of times faster than us, and also hold a lot of information (not that we don't) but i was wondering if computers will ever be able to rationalize like us. They do not understand what we are saying, they just process information to give an appropriate response. Will they ever think for them selves??

AKA terminator land???

Answer 1

A few things are not ready but the gaps are gradually closing:

1) As advance as computers are, they are still slow by a large margin when compared to adaptivity, raw processing power and storage capacity of our brains.

2) Computers are too rationally programmed, there is insufficient interests to program computers to be human like.  (Human psychology is not the best nor easiest model to program a computer to follow.)

3) Dollar for dollar, a super computer is more expensive to support, upkeep and control when compared to an organization of human.  This is especially true because the foundation for supporting human beings has already been established for thousands of years and remain so for the future.

4) Computers lack a fully automated life cycles -- ie to built and program themselves from scratch without human intervention.  This is likely to be the last control in our society to completely release to the hands of machines.  It has a huge impact as there are legal, moral even religious implications to both the human world and the future society of machines with basic civil rights.  Truth is, we human treat machines as soulless replaceable slaves.  It would be difficult to release the strangle hold.  Granting machines the appropriate status as our equals - let alone recognizing their superiority - is the last thing we do.

Answer 2

Absolutely.

Many leading scientists over the past century have spoken of an event that is very possible to happen in the future. It's called the "technological singularity", and it will enable machines not only as smart as people, but much, much smarter. So smart, in fact, we will be but insects to them within a century.

I.J. Good gave this summary of the coming robot revolution in 1965: "Let an ultraintelligent machine be defined as a machine that can far surpass all the intellectual activities of any man however clever. Since the design of machines is one of these intellectual activities, an ultraintelligent machine could design even better machines; there would then unquestionably be an ‘intelligence explosion,’ and the intelligence of man would be left far behind. Thus the first ultraintelligent machine is the last invention that man need ever make."

Despite popular belief, computers have yet to surpass the power of the human mind. That is predicted to happen sometime around 2020. At this time it will be very plausible that we will have advanced our programming enough to achieve the first conscious machine, which in turn will make a smarter machine, which will make a smarter machine, which will make a smarter machine, etc., etc. Almost immediately they will dwarf us in intelligence. Whether they decide to conquer us or tolerate us, only time will tell.

I would advise you start trying to find a real life John Connor, though, just in case.

Answer 3

It can never outsmart humans because computers are dependent to us. With the operation of humans computers will remain us computers. What we store to their data are all because od humans. They can never ever rationalize by their own.

Thanks for asking. Have a great day!

Answer 4

Done.

Answer 5

if humans and our capacity to create computers lasts long enough, which is probably not that likely, i'm pretty sure computers could get smarter than us. but that might not bode well for us unless we listen to them.

Answer 6

I find this a very interesting question.  When we think about it at the core, are we not all 'programmed'?  We experience (input data), respond (by analyzing the situation and determining how we want to respond to given circumstances) and act (execute).  All you would really have to do is program a highly complex computer that would be able to choose from multiple responses (at random, of course but by analyzing percentages of how the response is most likely to be taken: based on lots of boring data) to a given situation.  I think its possible, scary, yes, but possible.  Lots of work.  hmm.

Answer 7

There are computers that are programed to learn..and yes they do learn.  Some do understand language....Right now we do have computers that are smarter than many people...programmed with routines by groups of very smart people.  And yes, some do think for themselves already.  (retired IBM Exec mgr/confidential labs)

Answer 8

If I know the Human Animal, yes. Will we be smart enough to design them with a failsafe, I don't know.

Answer 9

No, people programmed computers, so we programmed the intelligence