A NEW study has warned that artificial intelligence could act as a deadly filter that stops us from finding alien life.
The idea has been presented by a scientist who argues that if other intelligent civilizations existed, they could have faced the same problem.
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The new study has been published in the Acta Astronautica journal.
It’s titled Is Artificial Intelligence the Great Filter that makes advanced technical civilizations rare in the universe?
Michael Garrett from the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Manchester is the sole author of the study.
“This study examines the hypothesis that the rapid development of Artificial Intelligence (AI), culminating in the emergence of Artificial Superintelligence (ASI), could act as a “Great Filter” that is responsible for the scarcity of advanced technological civilisations in the universe.
“It is proposed that such a filter emerges before these civilisations can develop a stable, multiplanetary existence, suggesting the typical longevity (L) of a technical civilization is less than 200 years,” he wrote.
Garrett argues that alien civilizations could have also invented AI.
He suggested this AI could have gone rogue which then led to extinction.
This extinction could have happened before the hypothetical intelligent life in question was able to create the technology to travel between planets.
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The scientist warns the same thing could happen to humans if AI isn’t regulated.
He also suggests AI acting like a filter for intelligent life could explain the Fermi Paradox.
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This paradox is a famous question that asks why humans haven’t been able to find life yet despite the universe being infinite.
Garrett is now calling for AI regulation and more to be done to stop an extinction-level event.
He says there is a “critical need to quickly establish regulatory frameworks for AI development on Earth and the advancement of a multiplanetary society to mitigate against such existential threats.”
“The persistence of intelligent and conscious life in the universe could hinge on the timely and effective implementation of such international regulatory measures and technological endeavours,” he added.
Fermi Paradox – what is it?
Here’s what you need to know…
- The Fermi Paradox isn’t strict evidence for alien life – but more of a thought experiment
- It’s a famous contradiction posed by physicist Enrico Fermi
- Fermi suggested that the enormous size of the universe – and the billions of Sun-like stars in the galaxy, and their planets – makes it highly likely that there is intelligent life out there
- Some of these civilisations may have developed interstellar travel
- But Fermi also noted that there’s a significant lack of evidence for life on other planets
- The chances of aliens being able to reach us are high, but there’s no evidence that aliens ever have
- This paradox has baffled scientists for decades
