Nobel laureate and microfinance pioneer Muhammad Yunus has expressed concern over the rapid evolution of artificial intelligence (AI) and said machines may outrun humans in terms of efficiency and usefulness in the next 25-30 years. AI robots will be able to develop on their own without human intervention beyond a point, he told PTI yesterday on the sidelines of the Tata Steel Literary Meet 2018.
“There should be some global regulatory guidelines on the development and research on this technology, which is primarily driven by greed,” Yunus, the founder of Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, said. AI should be used for social issues such as healthcare, flood and drought, Yunus opined.
“There is no gatekeeper, no social guidelines... Even when a new medicine is introduced, it has to seek regulatory approvals. Why can’t same rules apply for AI?” he asked. The economist feared that the new technology may ’replace’ manpower in the coming years and add to unemployment woes in populated countries like India.