Bot-chat. Facebook retaliates
“It would take off on its own and re-design itself at an ever increasing rate,” — Stephen Hawking Cautioned in 2014.
Haha.Title sounds funny, doesn’t it? Well I know it’s hard to believe, but ya in late 2017 facebook did create artificially intelligent programs which started communicating with each other in their own language. The two bots created changes to English which made it easier for them to work, but mysterious to humans trying to comprehend it.Facebook challenged its bots to try and negotiate with each other over a trade, attempting to swap hats, balls and books, each of which were given a certain value. But they quickly broke down as the robots appeared to communicate with each other in a language that they each understood but which appeared mostly incomprehensible to humans.Robots were instructed to try and negotiate with each other, but were not instructed to use comprehensible English, allowing them to create their own shorthand.
But Facebook didn’t shut down AI because the bots created their own language.After this incident researchers investigate the happenings,” I can can i i everything else,” said one bot, named bob.“Balls have zero to me to me to me to me to me to me to me to me to,” responded the other bot, named Alice.While the sentences may seem like gibberish at first, researchers say they’re actually a form of shorthand — which the bots learned to use using the machine learning algorithms.
“You i everything else,” Bob told Alice after the first exchange.
“Balls have a ball to me to me to me to me to me to me to me,” she said,
To which Bob replied, “i can i i i everything else.”
The machine Learning Algorithms created by Facebook Artificial Intelligence Research lab (FAIR), were used by the bots to improve the conversation indicating their human counterparts.
But in their effort to improve their ability to negotiate and speak, the developers unknowingly managed to provide the AI system a key to creating their very own language. As time passed, the bots began to communicate with one another — without any human input, whatsoever. Since they were not told to use English, Bob and Alice deviated from the instructions in order to improve the conversation. Research also revealed that bots relied on advanced machine learning strategies to improve negotiating skills.
Facebook ultimately retaliated the program as it came to a point where it deviated from standard English, which researchers call as ‘Functional Gibberish’. Where the information is continued to carry data, but was not very useful to humans.
Though Artificial Intelligence is the pinnacle of modern technology and will surely be of great use in the near future. Scientists and Tech-experts such as, Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Stephen Hawkings, have all warned that AI programs like Bob and Alice can one day be so powerful and advanced that it risks of wiping out the human race, just like Skynet in Terminator.