Episode 08: Will AI outstrip us?

Recently, an AI completed Ludwig van Beethoven’s unfinished 10th
Symphony. Experts and listeners were enthusiastic. Will AI soon
outstrip us, at least in some fields? It is certainly
indisputable that AI can process far, far more data than a
human. 


In Episode 8 of “AI and Us”, Humboldtians Martin Butz, Tobias
Matzner and Daniel Rückert discuss whether it is conceivable that
an AGI, an artificial general intelligence, will be developed in
the foreseeable future. That would be an AI whose abilities and
behaviour were not restricted to a certain segment of the world.
Unthinkable, says Alexander von Humboldt Professor Aimée van
Wynsberghe. She calls for a debate on the ethical issues and
social consequences that are already generated by existing forms
of AI. 


The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation


Every year, the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation enables more
than 2,000 researchers from all over the world to spend time
conducting research in Germany. The Foundation maintains a
network of well over 30,000 Humboldtians from all disciplines in
more than 140 countries worldwide – including 57 Nobel Laureates.


As part of the German government’s Artificial Intelligence
Strategy, the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation can appoint a
total of 30 Alexander von Humboldt Professors for Artificial
Intelligence in the years up to 2024. These chairs are
contributing to work being done to comprehensively investigate
the opportunities AI offers for our future and to make use of
them. They will also help strengthen Germany’s standing as an
internationally attractive and influential location in this
important field.