Are the Smart Machines Taking Over?

 Futurology  

At the 2014 Consumer Electronics Show, AT&T Senior Executive Vice President John Donovan, Ericsson President and CEO Hans Vestberg, and Qualcomm Chairman and CEO Paul Jacobs looked to the future, and if a 'Terminator' scenario is possible.

At this year's Consumer Electronics Show (CES), all the talk was about smart machines: smart cars, smart glasses, and, of course, smartphones. But should we be scared of these smart machines? Are they about to become too smart—so smart, indeed, that they are calling the shots?

The video above was one of the most interesting audience questions at a keynote panel moderated by Andrew Keen, host of “Keen On” from TechCrunch TV, featuring Ericsson CEO Hans Vestberg, Qualcomm CEO Dr. Paul Jacobs and AT&T's SVP of Network Operations John Donovan.

The question was, "How realistic is The Terminator Skynet scenario, where machines are actually calling the shots?"

Interestingly enough, the panelists seemed less afraid of our networked future than the audience. To John Donovan, the high tech future is a great leveler, enabling everything, even the mathematically and linguistically impaired, to reach what he called a "new level of consciousness."

"I think what we're after is Iron Man."

Donovan answered, "I think what we're after is Iron Man.  Which is to take a mere mortal, and provide them all these other things that give them super powers, but the ability to open it up and walk away and be human for a day."  Donovan calls this the difference between context and revolution.

Like Donovan, Jacobs welcomes the future which, he says, is "already here" in terms of enabling our digital brains. "The sky is the limit," he said, for humans. Although he left the subject of singularity and self-conscious machines for another day.

Vestberg, too, remains an optimist about the future of networked technology. Indeed, rather than enslaving us, Vestberg sees this technology as essential in saving humanity and having a hugely beneficial impact on society.

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John Donovan is the senior executive vice president for Technology and Network Operations at AT&T Inc.  He is responsible for AT&T's technology and global network including the company's best-in-class mobile broadband network. He previously served as chief technology officer for AT&T, overseeing the company's global technology direction and innovation road map. Under Donovan's leadership, the company has turbo-charged its innovation programs and is recognized as an industry leader in working with application developers and others to make AT&T's network open to collaboration.

Hans Vestberg is president and CEO of Ericsson Group. Under his direction, Ericsson has become the main driver toward the “networked society” where connectivity fuels progress. Vestberg is a leading advocate of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, and for the potential of mobility and broadband to tackle some of the world’s most compelling issues such as poverty, health, education and climate change. He is a founding member of the Broadband Commission for Digital Development, where he chairs the task group on the post-2015 development agenda.

Dr. Paul E. Jacobs is chairman and CEO of Qualcomm and a leader in the field of mobile communications for more than 25 years. He is a key architect of Qualcomm’s strategic vision and is responsible for leadership and oversight of all of the company’s initiatives and operations. Important developments under Dr. Jacobs include the first smartphone based on Palm OS®; inclusion of GPS capabilities in mobile phones; the Brew® system, enabling over-the-air downloading of applications; QChat, a voice over IP push-to-talk system; Mirasol®, a novel reflective display technology; and the Toq Smartwatch.


SOURCE  Techonomy Media

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