Singularly Deep Learning

Roh Soh-yeong
Director, Art Center Nabi

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I read in yesterday's JoongAng Ilbo an article by Roh Soh-yeong on "The advent of 'Singularity 99'" (November 12, 2014), beginning with these fateful words:

Pandora's box is finally open: 2014 is likely to be recorded as the year that humanity has crossed the river of no return. Artificial Intelligence (AI) has come out of the box. With the name tag, "Deep Learning," the AI technology that resembles the human thinking and decision-making process has been introduced. Just as a network of countless neurons perceives, processes and judges information, a computer can perceive, infer and decide by itself. The future when a computer surpasses human thinking is approaching.

I wasn't aware that 2014 is so significant, though I've previously encountered the term "singularity," but not the expression "Deep Learning." Maybe because it "has been introduced" only recently? "Singularity" refers to the moment that AI "surpasses human intelligence," as Ms. Roh explains - and as I've known for some time - but she never again refers to "Deep Learning." I therefore turned to Wikipedia:

Deep learning . . . is a set of algorithms in machine learning that attempt to model high-level abstractions in data by using model architectures composed of multiple non-linear transformations.

Hmmm . . . I'm not sure I followed all that, but I do understand that it has something to do with Al Gore's rhythm, which is rather machine-like, and that's maybe enough for me to know, in order to know that I want no part of such a future, no matter what wonderful things that imminent future's super-intelligent, Al-Gore-rhythmic, calculating cyborgs can do, for example, take away my job, take away my future, leave me redundant!

But who says computers will outpace human intelligence? Biogeneticists will be monkeying around - so to speak - with improving human intelligence as well.

We'll be getting a lot smarter, too, I fear.