Norfolk IT expert discusses artificial intelligence

NORFOLK, Va. — According to controversial tech pioneer Elon Musk, artificial intelligence (AI) will outsmart humans by next year.

It’s the latest prediction of potential danger caused by advancements in AI — many of the world’s top minds believe a cyber security threat may be looming in the not-so-distant future.

13News Now consulted local tech expert and president of Norfolk IT company Mode5, Luke Downing, to get his take on the current state of artificial intelligence.

“Right now we are talking that through with clients, about AI readiness,” said Downing. “But it’s really going to be driven by the software applications people use.”

Many of the applications Downing is referring to are vulnerable from a cybersecurity standpoint.

Cyber attacks have doubled in the last three years, and as AI advances, there could be a more cunning and dangerous threat infiltrating the world’s digital infrastructure than human terrorists.

“If you’re not careful it can get out of hand,” said Downing. “There’s a story about these two AIs communicating with each other, and after a while, they created their own language.”

Downing says protecting yourself in the short term involves precautions you may already be aware of — like enabling two-factor authentication, which acts as a second line of defense, usually in the form of a text message, when you’re accessing personal information online.

But protecting ourselves from an entity that could eventually become far more intelligent than we are, is something Downing calls a “world problem” that needs a “world solution.”

“It’s not something a company can solve,” said Downing. “It’s really something, as a world and as governments, that we need to think through because AI will eventually start teaching itself. That’s where you worry about getting into the Terminator and Skynet scenario.”