

A clever, unintended exploitation of a system which: a) subverts the rules or norms of that system, b) at the expense of some other part of that system. It’s not all as bleak as it might sound.įirst, a definition: Def: Hack /hak/ (noun) - 1. Finally, I will discuss the implications of a world of AI hackers, and point towards possible defenses.

Then, I will explain how AIs will hack the economic, social, and political systems that comprise society. Next, I will describe how AI systems will be used to hack us. First, I will generalize “hacking” to include economic, social, and political systems-and also our brains.

In this essay, I will talk about the implications of AI hackers. This hacking will come naturally, as AIs become more advanced at learning, understanding, and problem-solving. They’ll improve as AI techniques get more sophisticated, but we can see hints of them in operation today. Some of the hacks I will discuss don’t even require major research breakthroughs. We don’t need malicious AI systems like Skynet (Terminator) or the Agents (Matrix). My scenarios don’t require evil intent on the part of anyone. I’m not assuming intelligent androids like Data (Star Trek), R2-D2 (Star Wars), or Marvin the Paranoid Android (The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy).

I’m not postulating any “singularity,” where the AI-learning feedback loop becomes so fast that it outstrips human understanding. Okay, maybe it’s a bit of hyperbole, but none of this requires far-future science-fiction technology. We risk a future of AI systems hacking other AI systems, with humans being little more than collateral damage. It’s not just a difference in degree it’s a difference in kind. And two, AI systems will themselves become hackers: finding vulnerabilities in all sorts of social, economic, and political systems, and then exploiting them at an unprecedented speed, scale, and scope. It will hack our society to a degree and effect unlike anything that’s come before. And it is already deeply embedded into our social fabric, both in ways we understand and in ways we don’t. Artificial intelligence-AI-is an information technology.
