machines

the HBO series pits machines with morals against man — but could it really happen?

Picture this: robots enslaved in a Wild West-themed park gain consciousness and revolt against their tormenting programmers. Could any of this happen in real life?

The complicated answer lies within the intricacies of Artificial Intelligence — and the stakes could not be higher. “If we try, it seems we will one day build intelligence that matches our own,” says Pieter Abbeel, a professor in the robotic learning lab at UC Berkeley and the cofounder of covariant.ai, a Silicon Valley company. “Then, the next minute, the robot will be smarter than us, probably able to make us do whatever it wants, and shutting it down will not be an option. So, the big question becomes — ‘What happens next?’”