What happens when intelligence creates its successor?

Why are we so fixated on the subject of artificial intelligence (AI)?

Why do we want to build a thinking machine so badly?

Why do we invest so much in the research and development of AI?

Are we behaving like lonely aging parents who desperately want to have a child in the family just to feel they accomplished their mission in life?

Or do we need a helper for the days when we will get older, weaker, and powerless?

Or are we finally tired of doing the hard work and want to outsource it to somebody willing to do it for us, asking for nothing in return?

Or are we reckless enough to play God?

Whatever the answer might be, we need to consider all the consequences.

Don’t we remember the once-mighty species walking the Earth but now erased from existence by the fitter, more advanced newcomer?

Don’t we see what happened to aging technologies, antiquated computers, and outdated algorithms?

Don’t we remember how we, as a species, eliminated our predecessors, the Neanderthals, without mercy, after they had previously eliminated their predecessors and competitors? The stronger always replace the weaker. This is the nature of our world.

But if we remember it all, why aren’t we frightened of being replaced one day by a more intelligent, faster, and stronger machine?

Why don’t we worry ourselves sick over coming face to face with a sentient being with an IQ of 3,000? A being whose way of thinking we will not even come close to comprehending? A being that will look down upon us like the genius Isaac Newton looked at a five-year-old child centuries ago?

Why do we believe it will treat us differently than every other superior species, civilization, or technology treated its less advanced predecessor?

There is no logical explanation for humanity’s hunger for advanced AI technology designed to be better than us. Usually, we are not that silly, arrogant, or irresponsible.

Maybe we do this because it is evolution in action, and we—even if we were the first species to understand it—still cannot control it or stop it. Perhaps we must fulfill our role and complete our true mission on this planet: bring to it our more advanced replacement—our successor, whichever species it belongs to.

Intelligence empowers us to see unfavorable future outcomes and prevent them from happening. The good news is that we haven’t yet built the next supreme being to replace us at the top of the global food chain. But we are working hard toward that goal and, with every year, investing more energy, money, and resources into cutting the very branch we are sitting on—while loving every second of it.

There is still time to correct our course.

First, recognize that AI research is as dangerous as research on nuclear or biological weapons. One major mistake can wipe us out.

Then, put clear regulations in place and tighten the laws controlling AI research around the world. We must conduct this research in secure laboratories isolated from the Internet and require security clearance for their personnel.

Next, sign an international treaty and non-proliferation agreement on AI technology, and impose harsh criminal punishment on violators.

We also need to educate people about what is happening and the dangers of this technology. Prohibit the design of any AI engine with an IQ exceeding 200, as measured by a standardized IQ test. Introduce strict laws against using AI for military applications—which, unfortunately, may already be too late.

This seems to be the right way to contain this technology, if containment is even possible. Everything that can be invented is eventually invented—and then used—even if it hurts us. But we can still find wise ways to limit the destructive power of future AI, and we already have examples of success.

We have controlled dangerous technologies before.

Nuclear technology could kill millions or even billions. Yet, with laws and regulations in place, it has powered homes and factories around the world for decades.

Biological-weapons research is deadly, and any major mistake could lead to a worldwide pandemic capable of bringing humanity to a halt, changing our way of life, or wiping out our civilization. But we have largely kept this research under control and avoided the worst consequences.

Eugenics was attempted and rejected. It is prohibited today. Human cloning is also outlawed.

Addictive, potent narcotics are prohibited and fought globally, although they remain available for medicinal purposes.

Chemical weapons were used in the past, but they are now prohibited and strictly monitored.

Computer hacking is considered dangerous criminal activity and is outlawed and fought against in most countries.

We therefore have many examples of working together against global technological threats. In the same way, AI could—and should—be controlled and guided to help us move forward and succeed as a species. Or AI could become our enemy one day: an enemy we cannot be sure we can defeat.

The first genuinely intelligent machines will probably be created within the next hundred years. A century from now, will Homo sapiens still rule this planet? Or will it exist only as a historical record on an advanced storage device inside a future intelligent machine, under the file name “Homo extinctus”?

And let’s remember this: if we allow a new intellect to be created, we will face not only the problem of survival and the need to fight an intellectually superior enemy. We will also confront a new moral and ethical problem—the killing of intelligent life forms created by us. Our offspring. This would violate our most fundamental moral principles and should be considered unacceptable.

Otherwise, the universe might never forgive us.