by Andrew Williams

Created on: September 02, 2009   Last Updated: September 04, 2009

Well known among conspiracy theorists, a notorious radio program called Coast to Coast AM drifts through the airwaves in the middle of the night. The host, Art Bell, used to discuss topics ranging from aliens to government coverups to bizarre World Weekly News stories that were assumed to be true for some odd reason.

I used to listen to the show as a comedy, laughing myself to sleep in the wee hours of the night at the ridiculous questions and claims. One night, as I listened, the guest was a hilariously disgruntled physicist who Art Bell had been hounding for over an hour with ridiculous questions. On the subject of quantum mechanics, he saw an opportunity to turn the topic away from time travel by discussing efforts to build a quantum computer. Art Bell asked, in his most foreboding tone, "Is it possible that if such a computer were built, it could take over the world and enslave humanity?" Exasperated, the physicist replied, "Well, I guess that's theoretically possible, but I'm not really sure how it would happen. It's just supposed to do math equations. It would be like asking if a giant calculator could take over the world." This, I think, sets the tone for the question of whether machines could enslave humanity.

If cars were sentient beings, they would have some massive advantages over humanity. With their hard metal shells and their big crushing wheels and their inability to feel pain, it would be a pretty short battle between a man and his jeep. There would be no chance of outrunning it and few indoor safe havens that couldn't be smashed into. But this scenario is not one that we're concerned about (although Stephen King might be). Why not? Because cars only start when you turn the key in their ignition and they only move when you press the gas pedal down with your foot. There is no chance of the car attacking you unless somebody else is behind the wheel. The same can be said of computers.

The primary factor that differentiates humans from computers is the fact that computers only do what they're programmed to do. They have a specific set of commands and responses and they perform as they're intended to perform. I would argue that it's certainly possible for a person to program a robot to take over the world, but that's a fairly different situation.

Even programs designed to learn can only learn what they're programmed to learn. If it's set to "contemplate" what it should do next, it's not actually thinking; it is choosing an action from a short list

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