Science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke predicted the rise of AI and the associated ontological problems in 1978.
In an interview for a 1978 documentary about AI,
Sci-Fi Writer Arthur C. Clarke Predicted the Rise of Artificial Intelligence & the Existential Questions We Would Need to Answer (1978) | Open Culture
https://www.openculture.com/2024/12/arthur-c-clarke-predicts-the-rise-of-artificial-intelligence-questions-what-will-happen-to-humanity-1978.html
Science fiction is fictional, but the technologies depicted in science fiction works can sometimes become reality . The current situation in which AI is so popular that many users are obsessed with chatbots and workers are losing part of their jobs has been predicted quite critically by Ted Chiang, author of the science fiction short story ' The Story of Your Life, ' and Neal Stephenson, who depicted something like ChatGPT in his 1995 science fiction work ' The Diamond Age .'
'Picking up crumbs from the table' by science fiction writer Ted Chiang, who showed the future of AI and humanity in 2000 - GIGAZINE
Clarke was both a science fiction writer and a science commentator, and not only did he include realistic depictions of the future in his works, but he also discussed predictions about the future of communication in computer magazines.
What is the 'future of communication' predicted by science fiction master Arthur C. Clarke? - GIGAZINE
In 1978, Clark appeared on the popular American science show NOVA and made predictions about the future of AI, which was still in its infancy at the time. Below is an excerpt from the interview that was broadcast at the time and is available on NOVA's official YouTube channel.
This Sci-Fi Author Predicted a Computer-Dominated Future in the '70s | NOVA | PBS - YouTube
In the show, Clark predicted that AI would develop to a practical level in the future, saying, 'Today (1978), we don't have any highly accurate computers, but some robots have the ability to learn, and in the future we will be able to design systems that are constantly improving themselves.'
He also predicts problems with the rise of AI, saying, 'The emergence of computers smarter than humans will completely reshape society. Humans will lose mechanical and routine tasks. This will not just be a personal problem for those who are deprived of these tasks, but will raise social and philosophical questions.'
The field of AI has been booming and busting since the early 1950s, and the 1970s, when NOVA produced its TV show 'The Mind Machines,' was a time known as the 'AI Winter,' when research funding was scarce and interest was declining. Even in those days, Clark expressed his view that AI would become mainstream in the future, saying, 'What we're doing now (developing AI) is, in a sense, already creating a successor to our species. We're witnessing the first, crude beginnings of AI.'
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