MWC hears two starkly divided views of AI’s impact

Two sharply different visions of AI were platformed on stage at the Mobile World Congress trade show on Monday. The true believer’s case for the technology’s potential — to merge with and transform human life for the better — was offered up by futurist and singularity priest Ray Kurzweil, who also has a research role at Google. Beaming in via videoconference in a white shirt paired with vividly painted braces, Kurzweil suggested AI will supercharge humanity — bringing, if not quite immortality, a major extension in humanity’s longevity and capabilities as a result of AI-fuelled advances in areas like healthcare. AI is, he suggested, already powering huge gains for those paying attention — and is going to transform “everything all at once”, raining benefits down on humanity across countless other domains, such as unlocking the plentiful power of solar energy. Thanks to “AI-optimised designs” and new components, renewable energy technology is on track to “dominate within a decade”, h ... Read full article.