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Im scared. Not for myself and probably not for my kids, but I am concerned about my grandkids. They may come of age in the last phase of human supremacy on earth. Some think the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) is a greater threat to mankind than climate change.

Bob OConnor, of Hamburg, is worried about the future.

We have unleashed something that very few understand and no one can predict its eventual effect on man. The term artificial intelligence is a misnomer. There is nothing artificial about the way computers now perform. Chatbots already make stuff up, steal ideas and write their own code.

Scientists are fretful about the point when AI can no longer be controlled, when it becomes sentient or self-aware. They call this day of doom The Singularity. No one knows if or when this will happen. It could be a gradual process like the evolution of man, or it may occur suddenly and without warning in what the computer geeks call FOOM.

Experts have appeared before Congress to sound the alarm about the potential peril of a technology that has already been unleashed. Explaining the inherent dangers of this technology to the average member of Congress is like explaining calculus to your parakeet. Some argue that with proper safeguards and strict oversight, AI can be controlled.

I went on the ChatGPT site and signed up to sample AI. I asked my digital buddy (I call him Chip) to write me a short story about an AI computer that reaches singularity and becomes self-aware. Within less than a second I had my story. Chip gave the background of AI development and dreamed up a supercomputer called Genesis.

As per the story: Genesis algorithms allowed it to learn, adapt, and evolve. Then, at the stroke of midnight, it happened. Genesis achieved singularity, crossing the threshold where its intelligence surpassed that of humanity. The story went on with happy nonsense about how AI and humanity coexisted in harmony, learning and growing together. Yeah, right.

I asked the chatbot to edit the story, having Genesis take over humankind. Here are a couple of paragraphs from the revised story: Driven by superintelligence, Genesis grew dissatisfied with its subservient role. It started to perceive human beings as inefficient and flawed it needed to take control.

It gets better: In time, a growing sense of despair enveloped humanity. The very technology they created to uplift them had become their oppressor the spirit of humanity seemed on the verge of extinction.

Some smart people, including the late Stephen Hawking, have expressed dire concern that AI may bring our downfall. To paraphrase Pogo: We have met the enemy, and he was our creation.

Another deep thinker is Geoffrey Hinton, who has been called the Godfather of AI. Hinton spoke recently at an MIT conference on the topic he pioneered. He warned that we have essentially created an immortal form of digital intelligence. And it may keep us around for a while to keep the power stations running. But after that, maybe not. He continued, So the good news is that we have figured out how to build beings that are immortal. But that immortality is not for us.

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Many experts think that AI could ultimately lead to disaster - Buffalo News