Could Artificial Intelligence Become Conscious? 33 Researchers Contribute Their Opinion

Even people who aren't fans of sci-fi or avid A.I. enthusiasts know that in 1997, IBM's "Deep Blue" chess computer defeated the then world chess champion at the time, Garry Kasparov, but relatively few of us are aware of the fascinating developments in other narrow domains of skill where artificial intelligence is gaining ground at incredible speed.

AI investments have become more and more prevalent over the last 5 years, and articles in the Financial Times, TechCrunch, WIRED, and elsewhere tout an era of heightened interest in machine learning and artificial intelligence-oriented companies.

Artificial intelligence and machine learning adoption among different industries represents a new chapter in digital transformation. However, according our own research across industries, AI adoption in 2017 remains low with majority of major success stories coming only from the largest tech players in the industry (Google, Baidu, Apple, etc). McKinsey Global Institute estimates that in 2016, tech giants invested $20-30 billion into AI, while smaller companies altogether invested an estimated $6-9 billion.

Back at the beginning of the year, I set out to get a feel for a city in the longitudinal center of the country, between two coastal tech hubs in San Francisco and NYC: Austin. I wanted to find out what made Austin an attractive AI and tech hub the way I had in Boston, Atlanta, Montreal, and Bangalore before it. It turns out the AI startup community in Austin is measurably different than those on the east and west coast, and it stood out to me in the way it was able to offer a quality of life that's rare for fresh-out-of-college talent on the coasts. 

The year 2015 might be seen as the year that "artificial intelligence risk" or "artificial intelligence danger" went mainstream (or close to it). With the founding of Elon Musk's Open AI and The Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence; the increased attention on the Future of Life Institute and Oxford's Future of Humanity Institute; and a flurry of attention around celebrity comments around AI dangers (including the now well-known statements of Bill Gates and Elon Musk), it's safe to say that the risks of AI has embedded itself as a topic of pop-culture discourse — even if it's not a very serious one amongst the populace at present.