theatlantic | As machines advance and as programs learn to do things that were once
only accomplished by people, what will it mean to be human?
Over time, artificial intelligence will likely prove that carving out any realm of behavior as unique to humans—like language,
a classic example—is ultimately wrong. If Tinsel and Beau were still
around today, they might be powered by a digital assistant, after all.
In fact, it’d be a littler weird if they weren’t, wouldn’t it? Consider
the fact that Disney is exploring the use of interactive humanoid robots
at its theme parks, according to a patent filing last week.
Technological
history proves that what seems novel today can quickly become the norm,
until one day you look back surprised at the memory of a job done by a
human rather than a machine. By teaching machines what we know, we are
training them to be like us. This is good for humanity in so many ways.
But we may still occasionally long for the days before machines could
imagine the future alongside us.
