There is talk of the revolution again, but this time you can’t see it. Artificial intelligence is changing the world more on a subtle level. It’s hard to believe these increasingly powerful forms of software that can improve themselves without human guidance. Something is changing in the background of our devices, machines and the way we deal with them, but what?
This incomprehensibility of the technology also means that everyone can actually say anything about it. Politicians, who unfortunately often understand very little about information technology, find themselves exposed to a global race for the best companies, researchers and money flows. Business leaders who know that AI will change their business, but not where they need to invest now. And professional alarmists – often even in the AI business – who warn that this dangerous technology could destroy humanity.
On November 30, 2022, the company Open AI activated the chatbot Chat-GPT. We, the authors responsible for AI at the Süddeutsche Zeitung, have since spoken to many people who really understand AI.
Among them was Open AI boss Sam Altman, who made a rock star appearance at the Technical University of Munich and was swarmed by computer science students like a messiah.
Or Yoshua Bengio, the Canadian luminary of AI research, who warned in a calm voice in the back room of a specialist conference in New Orleans: Humanity must bring artificial intelligence under control; the systems have become too powerful.
Whether enthusiasts or skeptics – we have compiled the interviews and portraits of the leading minds in the field in this issue. We hope you will help readers understand the most sensational invention of our time.