My guess, and we’re all only guessing, is that the superintelligence so many philosophers and technologists fear will ultimately be a tool for the next iteration of humans, who’ll be just as human as we are, even though they’ll differ from us even more radically than we do from, say, Homo floresiensis. Is there a chance that we can be subsumed by intelligent machines? Sure, but I think a merger more likely.

In a Conversation essay, Alvin DMello writes of Intelligence Augmentation aids, from papyrus to HoloLens. An excerpt:

Lately there has been some major speculation about the threat posed by superintelligent AI. Philosophers such as Nick Bostrom have explored many issues in this realm.

AI today is far behind the intelligence possessed by any individual human. However, that might change. Yet the fear of superintelligent AI is predicated on there being a clear distinction between the AI and us. With IA, that distinction is blurred, and so too is the possibility of there being a conflict between us and AI.

Intelligence amplification is an old concept, but is coming to the fore with the development of new augmented reality devices. It may not be long before your own thinking might be enhanced to superhuman levels thanks to a seamless interface with technology.•