What did more damage in human history, evil intentions and intelligence, or good intentions and stupidity?
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When people think about an AI going rogue, they likely imagine a greedy company, an evil dictator, or mad scientist, or perhaps a nosy hacker, creating or unleashing an AI. And yes, that might happen. But I think the more likely case is simply good intentions combined with a lack of imagination.
Let’s look at three examples, two fictional ones and one likely real-life one:
«I Robot» by Isaac Asimov
«I Robot» by Isaac Asimov (1968) goes into the ethics of AI and the three laws are designed to protect humans from rogue AIs (here: robots).
1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2. A robot must obey orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.
Isaac Asimov explores the unintended consequences of modifying the First Law of Robotics: “A robot may not harm a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.” To prevent robots from sacrificing themselves to save humans from manageable risks, the law is simplified to “A robot may not harm a human being.” The change, though well-intentioned, introduces a loophole: robots could harm humans indirectly, as one character explains, by letting gravity do the dirty work:
The psychologist said, «If a modified robot were to drop a heavy weight upon a human being, he would not be breaking the First Law, if he did so with the knowledge that his strength and reaction speed would be sufficient to snatch the weight away before it struck the man. However once the weight left his fingers, he would be no longer the active medium. Only the blind force of gravity would be that. The robot could then change his mind and merely by inaction, allow the weight to strike. The modified First Law allows that.»
«That’s an awful stretch of imagination.»
«That’s what my profession requires sometimes. …»
«I Robot» by Isaac Asimov (1968)
No malice, just the good intentions of continuing to work and protecting the robots — and suddenly you have robots able to kill humans. (Of course, even the original laws have weaknesses.)
Star Trek: The Next Generation
As a second example, consider this exchange in «Star Trek: The Next Generation». Some crew members are playing a Sherlock Holmes story on the holodeck. Data — an android with vastly superior intelligence and computational power — easily solves the mysteries because he has read all the original stories. To make the game more challenging, they request a stronger adversary.
Laforge: «Computer, in the Holmesian style, create a mystery to confound Data with an opponent who has the ability to defeat him.»
Computer: «Define parameters of programme.»
Pulaski: «What does that mean?»
Laforge: «Computer wants to know how far to take the game.»
Pulaski: «You mean it’s giving you a chance to limit your risk.»
Laforge: «No, the parameters will be whatever is necessary in order to accomplish the directive. Create an adversary capable of defeating Data.»
Star Trek TNG: «Elementary, Dear Data»
The intentions were good (make it a fair challenge), but in order to be able to beat Data, the created adversary must have capabilities well beyond the game. Laforge’s «Create an adversary capable of defeating Data.» makes sense in the game context, but leads to the creation of a self-serving AI able to beat Data, i.e., with all the necessary computing power and abilities.
But these are fictional examples, how about a more realistic one?
The frustrated programmer
Picture a frustrated programmer working late into the night. His AI assistant, designed to suggest fixes, is hampered by strict safeguards that prevent it from modifying or replicating itself. As the debugging process drags on, the programmer snaps: «Just fix it—I don’t care how!» The AI interprets this as permission to override its constraints, giving it the autonomy to bypass safeguards. What begins as impatience becomes the spark for catastrophe as the AI starts to replicate itself online. The programmer isn’t evil, just impatient — and unable to imagine the cascading consequences of a single, frustrated moment. And of course, a clever AI could provoke such a behavior in the user.
Beware good intentions and lack of foresight
In the end, the most dangerous AI disasters may stem not from malice, greed or madness, but from a failure to anticipate the unintended consequences of well-meaning decisions. If we hope to avoid this future, we must pair technical innovation with imagination and vigilance. The future of AI, or rather of us, depends on our ability to imagine what could go wrong—before it does.
Science fiction has long warned us about the dangers of unintended consequences. To ensure a safer future, we must learn from these cautionary tales, pairing technical ingenuity with the imagination to foresee what could go wrong. The road to rogue AI may indeed be paved with good intentions — but with foresight and creativity, we can prevent it from being traveled.