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Softbank CEO predicts AI will overtake human intelligence in 30 years, which poses important philosophical questions.
Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son took to the stage at Mobile World Congress this week to share his vision of a world where computers are several orders of magnitude smarter than humans.
In the next 30 years, "even the chip in our shoes will be smarter than us," he predicted.
Son expects the number of transistors in a processor to exceed the number of neurons in the human brain – 30 billion – by 2018. In 30 years, it will have 30 times more, he claimed, describing the milestone as "the birth of super intelligence." The average human has an IQ of 100, he continued; in 30 years, he expects computers to have an IQ of 10,000, which is "beyond average people’s comprehension."
It is this belief that led Masayoshi Son to acquire U.K.-based chip designer ARM last year for €28.8 billion, he explained. It is also why he is launching what will be the world’s largest venture capital fund, the $100 billion Softbank Vision Fund.
With these assets, Son is positioning Softbank to realise his 30-year vision for the arrival of super intelligence, or the singularity, as it is also known.
It will create "an interesting society," he said, and requires humankind to address some important philosophical questions.
"What will be our job? What will be our life?" he asked.
Son cited Oxford University’s 12 Risks That Threaten Human Civilisation, noting that AI is one of them.
"But it can also be a solution to the other 11," he suggested. "If we misuse it, it is a risk; if we use it well, it will be our partner," he said.
