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Artificial Intelligence And Westworld, Is It Possible?
HBO’s latest hit series is Westworld. Set in a sordid Jurassic Park-esque Wild West theme park visitors can do what they want to the various ‘hosts’, androids that are so human they can only be distinguished by their lack of consciousness. Yet, could this become a reality?
In the show visitors are taken into the large park on a train, with a day costing $40,000! The ridiculous costs could be adjusted to inflation (perhaps it’s £100,000 a day in post-Brexit Britain) combined with the running of such a massive organisation, maintenance costs are high as numerous hosts have to be repaired at the end of each day after suffering untold punishments at the hands of the guests.
The way the hosts are created is so complicated that it seems like the technology doesn’t exist yet. Making a host so lifelike that you couldn’t tell the difference between it and a real human is the biggest challenge that would be faced when creating such a world. So maybe it would make more sense to use A.I within a virtual reality setting rather than allowing guests to destroy the robots that have been painstakingly built.
Using a device such as an Oculus Rift guests could visit the park to interact with the hosts. Westworld might even be the setting for Red Dead Redemption 6 in 2042. However, there’s not much point putting on a headset and experiencing Westworld if you can’t get drunk off the old timey whiskey or actively shoot at cowboys.
Westworld as we know it seems like a long way off but when you look at how fast artificial intelligence is evolving then who knows, there could be some form of disposable android that can be destroyed without needing repairs.
The Westworld series is based on a film by the same name.
Another problem with AI is the potential lethal capacity it possesses, Elon Musk recently tweeted the need to be careful with AI. A robot with a programmed objective could potentially never stop until it has met its objective, especially if it feels no empathy for actual humans.
Worth reading Superintelligence by Bostrom. We need to be super careful with AI. Potentially more dangerous than nukes.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 3, 2014
There are many challenges that the scientists would face if re-creating Westworld, at the moment it all seems a long way off but it’s nice to keep an open mind, we have established that it’s not possible at the moment but that is an aspect that makes the show so interesting! If you haven’t watched Westworld yet then it is highly recommended. In the meantime keep talking to Siri.
