Mankind is possibly on the verge of its greatest achievement; the creation of intelligence equal or superior to its own. Will we be gods to our creations or will they replace us? In this course, Kenneth Cukier, data editor at the Economist, looks at the origins of A.I. to examine the promise of A.I. to its early pioneers, how it works, and what the consequences may be. From the ‘Terminator’ scenario to Google translate, Cukier describes how A.I. will not only change our odds of survival, but also our understanding of life, freedom, and compassion.

In this course you will learn:

• Why the development of intelligent machines will soon lead to 'superintelligences'.
• How early pioneers used neuroscience to try and map the complexity of the human brain.
• Why we stopped trying to teach machines, and got machines to teach themselves.
• The ways learning algorithms are at work in countless aspects of our daily lives.
• The disruption to our society these algorithms will have in jobs, policing and surveillance.
• Why some of the most essential aspects of our humanity may become worthless.
• How the 'King Midas problem' anticipates problems with bad engineering.
• How the 'Terminator problem' anticipates the threat to humanity from superintelligence.
• The difficulties of programming superintelligences capable of moral choice.
• What can be done to protect our species.