This refers to Devangshu Datta's column "Robots and us" (Quantum Leap, March 7). Raymond Kurzweil, an American author, inventor, and a director of engineering at Google calls the moment "singularity" - when artificial intelligence will overtake human thinking. He believes that the Turing test will be passed in 2029. Robots, when accurately programmed, don't make mistakes. They don't complain about working conditions - don't demand union representation, they don't take sick leaves or demand benefits. Artificial intelligence could be harnessed to solve many problems of the society and perform many tasks to perfect standards. Will machines make considered economic or political decisions? Will they pull the trigger on people as is happening with drones? Robotic technology is exploding and is no longer in the domain of science fiction.
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H N Ramakrishna Bangalore
Letters can be mailed, faxed or e-mailed to:
The Editor, Business Standard
Nehru House, 4 Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg
New Delhi 110 002
Fax: (011) 23720201
E-mail: letters@bsmail.in
All letters must have a postal address and telephone number