DENVER, COLORADO - As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes more advanced and sophisticated - and more adept than humans in a growing number of areas - it will have huge ramifications. In the words of United States AI researcher Eliz Yudkowsky, “Anything that could give rise to smarter-than-human intelligence - in the form of Artificial Intelligence, brain-computer interfaces, or neuroscience-based human intelligence enhancement - wins hands down beyond contest as doing the most to change the world. Nothing else is even in the same league.”

Looking ahead to the rest of this decade and beyond, humanity is about to face a critical choice: Embrace AI's growth and risk society's autonomy, try to control it and risk limiting its benefits, or attempt to find a middle ground where AI can develop, and society can continue advancing without creating unmanageable risks. Humans have made remarkable strides throughout history with world-changing inventions like fire, language, electricity, and the internet. Fire and electricity allowed humans to evolve and expand their energy resources, while language propelled humans from the Stone Age to the Silicon Age.

Even now, language remains vital in humanity’s ongoing advancement as a species. Even if one is the most intelligent and educated man or woman in the room, if one cannot convey his/her ideas to the collective, did they even exist in the first place? As Yudkowsky correctly notes, by building general AI humans would, in fact, have "invented an inventor." AI is different from other human inventions like the printing press, the internet, and electricity because these were created with a predetermined function. In contrast, AI was created to learn and constantly evolve. In theory, it is better than humans at virtually everything.

Given all the developments taking place in today’s world and the future, it is clear that AI will play an increasingly significant role in people’s daily lives.