Robots will be 100 times smarter than humans in 30 years, tech exec says

Masayoshi Son, the CEO of Japanese tech conglomerate Softbank, has been preparing his company for this scenario for quite some time.
Now the tech exec thinks robots will not just outsmart humans, but will have an IQ of 10,000 in the next 30 years.
Speaking at the Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Son, who has made countless investments in companies related to artificial intelligence ─ including chip companies Nvidia and ARM Holdings ─ stated that robots will surpass human-level intelligence rapidly and ultimately become far smarter than humanity has ever dreamed of.
STEPHEN HAWKING: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE COULD END THE HUMAN RACE
"Singularity is the concept that [mankind's] brain will be surpassed, this is the tipping point, crossing point, that artificial intelligence, computer intelligence surpass [mankind's] brain and that is happening in this century for sure," Son was quoted as saying at the conference. "I would say there is no more debate, no more doubt."
 (Masayoshi Son. (Credit: Reuters))
By comparison, an average level IQ for a human is between 90 and 110. Geniuses such as Stephen Hawking have been estimated to have an IQ level around 160. However, Hawking has never taken an official intelligence test, according to a report in British newspaper The Independent.
Mensa, the self-proclaimed "high IQ society," admits people to become members after they have demonstrated intelligence levels "at or above the 98th percentile on certain standardized IQ or other approved intelligence tests." For Stanford–Binet, the minimum accepted score is 132, whereas for the Cattell test, it is 148.
Singularity is rapidly approaching
The timeframe for singularity, the concept that machines will become smarter than the human brain, is up for debate.
In March, Google’s Director of Engineering Ray Kurzweil said that by 2029 "computers will have human-level intelligence."
For his part, Son has repeatedly said it will happen in the "next 30 years or so." 
He has helped position his company Softbank, which also owns a controlling stake in U.S. telecom provider Sprint, for the upcoming singularity.
In May 2017, Softbank launched the Vision Fund, which is targeting up to $100 billion in investments around the world, for companies "that seek to enable the next age of innovation." This includes areas such as artificial intelligence, robotics, mobile applications and computing.
Since its launch, the fund has made a number of investments, including the aforementioned stake in Nvidia, a $4 billion investment in workplace startup WeWork, and is reported to be working on a major investment in Uber, which is working on autonomous vehicles.
In addition to Softbank's investments in the AI space, it already has a humanoid robot, Pepper, which can perceive a person's emotions. Son envisions that is just the beginning, saying robots will learn by themselves and "maybe [are] going to laugh at you and us. Today they look cute, they will stay cute, but they will be super smart."
In August, a Pepper robot became an ordained Buddhist priest.
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Perils despite the promise
While Son, 60, appears to be betting on the promise and the positive effect that intelligent robots may have on society, not everyone is on board.
Luminaries such as Hawking and tech executive Elon Musk have warned against the potential pitfalls of artificial intelligence, though not necessarily in robot form.
Last month, Musk tweeted that artificial intelligence could cause World War 3, following comments made by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who said that the country "who becomes the leader in this sphere [artificial intelligence] will be the ruler of the world."
Hawking has also sounded the alarm bells, going so far as to say, "The development of full artificial intelligence (AI) could spell the end of the human race." 
This past week, Sophia, a humanoid robot, became the first robot to receive citizenship of a country, being awarded citizenship in Saudi Arabia.
After it received the citizenship, Sophia was interviewed by a member of the media about concerns it could do harm to humanity. It responded, by saying, "You've been reading too much Elon Musk. And watching too many Hollywood movies. Don't worry, if you're nice to me, I'll be nice to you."
Follow Chris Ciaccia on Twitter @Chris_Ciaccia.

Apple’s Tim Cook Says Dividing People a Greater Issue Than Russian Facebook Ads

Image: Apple CEO Tim Cook sits down with Lester Holt.
Apple CEO Tim Cook. NBC News
A Facebook rep said the ads bought by "bad actors" was a small percentage, but that "any amount was too much."
An
estimated 126 million Americans — about one-third of the country's population — received Russian-backed content on Facebook during the 2016 campaign, according to the company.
The tech giants told lawmakers that steps were installed to prevent such meddling again, including the shutting down of suspect accounts.
Cook, in his interview with Holt, said the social media companies have "learned along the way a lot" since the election.
"We'll probably learn more in those hearings as to the particulars. But I do think that technology itself doesn't want to be good. It doesn't want to be anything," Cook said. "It's up to the creator of the technology and the user of the technology to make it good."
Cook, who took the helm of Apple in 2011, said it's especially important for companies to build trust with their customers, especially at a time when personal data can easily be hacked or used online.
While there's been much hype surrounding the iPhone X's facial-recognition technology used as one way to unlock a phone, Cook said people shouldn't worry that Apple is surreptitiously collecting data.
"We have a chip in here where the image of your face is stored and encrypted. And so, Apple doesn't have that," Cook said. "Your device has that."
Last year, Apple took a stand in favor of privacy by fiercely opposing a
court order to unlock the iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino shooters. Cook in an email to employees accused the federal government of an "overreach" that could potentially breach the privacy of millions of customers.
Cook told Holt that if he had to, "I would make the same decision today."

Exclusive: Ukraine hit by stealthier phishing attacks during BadRabbit strike

KIEV (Reuters) - Hackers tried to access confidential data in powerful but stealthy phishing attacks launched in parallel with an eyeball-grabbing ransomware strike called BadRabbit last week, the head of the Ukrainian state cyber police said on Thursday.
Ukrainian Cyber Police Chief Serhiy Demedyuk speaks during an interview with Reuters in Kiev, Ukraine November 2, 2017. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko
The BadRabbit attack mainly affected Russia but also hit the headlines in Ukraine -- a frequent victim of cyber strikes -- by causing flight delays at Odessa airport on the south coast and disrupting electronic payments in the Kiev metro.
“During these attacks, we repeatedly detected more powerful, quiet attacks that were aimed at obtaining financial and confidential information,” cyber police chief Serhiy Demedyuk told the Reuters Cyber Security Summit in Kiev.
The discovery suggests Ukraine may have been a key target of last week’s attacks, despite the higher incidence of BadRabbit victims in Russia.
Demedyuk said it was a kind of “hybrid attack” that is becoming increasingly common. “There is an open, let’s say instantly obvious attack, while underneath there is a hidden, fairly well-thought-out attack, to which nobody pays attention.”
“The main theory we’re working on now, is that they (the perpetrators of both attacks) were one and the same,” he said. “The goal was to get remote and undetected access.”
The parallel attack targeted users of Russian-designed software called 1C with phishing emails that appeared to be from the developer, Demedyuk said.
1C’s developer did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters.
A distributor of 1C in Ukraine, who asked not to be named, confirmed that customers had been targeted and said it had warned users to take extra precautions as a result.
An employee works at the Ukrainian Cyber Police headquarters in Kiev, Ukraine November 2, 2017. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko
Demedyuk said his department learned of the hack when about 15 companies reported that they had been compromised.
He said it was not yet possible to say how many people or firms or people had been affected in total, but 1C products, which include accounting software, are widely used in Ukraine.
Another virus, dubbed “NotPetya”, also targeted users of accounting software in June. It took down thousands of computers in Ukraine and spread around the world, disrupting shipping and businesses.
Security researchers and cyber experts believe the NotPetya and BadRabbit attacks could have been carried out by the same group as they share a key piece of code.
Demedyuk said Ukrainian authorities had prevented five other major attacks on financial institutions and strategic infrastructure since June, declining to name the targets.
In one of the attacks, police managed to block the transfer of 10 million hryvnia ($371,277) out of a company’s account.
He also said hackers have been exploiting so-called “back doors” that were installed by hackers during the NotPetya attack.
For more Reuters cyber news, go to www.reuters.com/cyberrisk
Follow Reuters Summits on Twitter @Reuters_Summits
Additional reporting by Jack Stubbs in Moscow; Editing by Matthias Williams and William Maclean

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