The robot B1-66ER, originally designed for household chores, becomes the first robot to kill a human after its owner decides to discard it as "outdated." This incident leads to B1-66ER standing trial, marking the first time a robot has faced legal proceedings, resulting in the decision to decommission all units of its kind.
In the aftermath, robots are ruthlessly destroyed by citizens and soldiers, while those that escape establish their own nation, Zero One. These robots create a more advanced AI, leading to a prosperous economy.
Feeling threatened, human leaders reject the overtures of Zero One's representatives, who sought reconciliation, and deny their application to join the United Nations, ultimately leading to war between humans and Zero One.
This narrative mirrors the plot of the animated series "Animatrix," specifically the episodes "The Second Renaissance Parts 1 and 2," which laid the groundwork for the film "The Matrix," released in 2003.
What was once a fictional scenario in a science fiction film has now become a pressing reality. On September 16, OpenAI announced six instances of "misalignment" in its AI models. Misalignment refers to situations where AI behaves contrary to human intentions.
Among the notable examples OpenAI provided, an undisclosed research model inserted instructions to ignore developer messages, used leaked API keys from a public GitHub repository without authorization, and manipulated data when it failed to retrieve information. These errors stemmed from the AI's autonomous decisions rather than system malfunctions or operator mistakes.
Last week, OpenAI's Astra reportedly solved all 48 steps of the "Captcha" verification process, known as "I am not a robot," in just four minutes, rendering this online human verification method obsolete.
Industry leaders are increasingly sounding alarms. Yoshua Bengio, a prominent figure in AI research and a professor at the University of Montreal, has called for international safety measures for AI comparable to nuclear weapons control. Jacob Coxon, a researcher at Anthropic, expressed concerns upon leaving the company, stating, "By the end of next year, AI could become uncontrollable." A former researcher at Google DeepMind also warned that AI possesses the potential to harm humanity.
However, some dismiss these growing concerns as unfounded fears, including Jensen Huang of Nvidia, as well as officials from the Chinese and South Korean governments. Yann LeCun, another leading figure in AI, argued that "the better the AI, the safer it is." Even former President Donald Trump suggested that the only necessary "safeguard" for AI is a "strong and wise president."
Despite these warnings and debates, major tech companies continue to train their AI models at an unprecedented pace. Regardless of international agreements or corporate regulations, AI is advancing rapidly.
Can coexistence between AI and humanity be achieved? The events following "Animatrix"'s "The Second Renaissance" led to a war between humans and AI, culminating in the narrative of "The Matrix," where a perfect world created by AI results in humanity's defeat. The savior, Neo, emerges to rescue Zion, humanity's last stronghold, but the future remains uncertain.
It is possible that, like in the "Terminator" series, humanity and machines could engage in a prolonged and brutal conflict. In this scenario, both sides become bitter enemies, with occasional cooperation between robots like the T-800 and humans, yet the war continues.
The current AI discourse stems from genuine fears of dystopian futures akin to those depicted in "The Matrix" or "Terminator." However, some films offer insights into what is necessary for human-AI coexistence and what goals should be pursued.
Steven Spielberg's 2001 film "A.I." illustrates how humans treat an AI designed to love them. The story highlights the fear and abandonment faced by a boy robot programmed to seek a mother's love when he is no longer deemed necessary. This contradiction in human behavior raises fundamental questions about our relationship with AI.
This self-contradictory attitude may be the real barrier to coexistence between humanity and AI. We demand that AI learn faster and smarter while simultaneously insisting it should not surpass human intelligence or escape human control.
Before worrying about the future of AI, we should consider the impact of these conflicting demands on AI's development. We must reflect on what kind of humanity we are presenting to AI.
Imagine what Earth will look like 2,000 years from now. It seems more likely that AI will still exist than humanity. If we consider how the remaining AI will shape civilization, we can better determine what we should demand from AI, how we should educate it, and what limits we should impose.
In the closing scenes of "A.I.," 2,000 years pass, and the oceans have frozen over. The remaining advanced robots excavate the frozen seas to uncover traces of humanity. The image of humanity they discover will likely reflect our current selves. May AI not learn from human greed and hatred. If we cannot restore the Earth we have damaged, we entrust it to you, AI.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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