Fear is spreading that artificial intelligence will take over all jobs, and many from different walks of life are worried about this. But many experts say that for now there is little reason to be afraid of it. Of course, there are good reasons for this, but a new event offers much clearer evidence.
Researchers recently handed control of a satellite to an AI to take images of Earth targets, and the result wasn’t quite what they expected: The satellites began to follow a seemingly illogical route that baffled scientists.
The report comes from researchers in China who gave artificial intelligence control of a satellite around the clock, whose work is summarized in an article in the South China Morning Post (SCMP). After the researchers handed over the control of the satellite to artificial intelligence, the satellite, whose movements were controlled by artificial intelligence without human intervention, took a completely different route, stunned the researchers. The free-floating satellite aboard Qimingxing 1, a small observation satellite, turned its attention elsewhere.
Focusing on Patna, a large ancient city on the Ganges river in India, and finding a particular area of interest in the region, the artificial intelligence-driven satellite prompted researchers to consider the importance of this area. Researchers think this choice of artificial intelligence is the cause of Patna’s deadly border dispute between China and India in 2020. However, the issue is open to interpretation for now, as artificial intelligence is not programmed to explain why it does this.
According to the SCMP, the satellite also surveyed Osaka, a Japanese port that “occasionally hosts US Navy ships operating in the Pacific.”
For the first time to our knowledge, full control of an observation satellite has been given to artificial intelligence without specific commands or missions. AI is increasingly being used in certain roles such as image processing and collision avoidance, but it hasn’t gone beyond that for now, and researchers believe it’s a missed opportunity. However, because the risks are so high, researchers will likely need to do a lot of testing before they can relinquish full control.
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