‘Unlimited intelligence is more dangerous than atomic energy’

Gerd Leonhard says that it will take foresight to handle the power of technological advances.

Gerd Leonhard is a futurist (or futurologist), a rising profession in the last decade.  In an era of technological leaps capable of drastically changing reality as we know it, it becomes necessary more than ever to have a predictive look.  This German writer stands at the antipodes of what could be considered a technophobe.  However, he believes that the only way to ensure that technology does not turn against the interests of humanity is to establish clear guidelines about what we want for our future.

 About that and about the innovations that most concern him, he spoke from the United States.

 How do you imagine the world in a couple of decades?

 Predicting what will happen in decades is impossible.  What I can say is that in five or eight years the augmented and virtual reality will be as normal as using a ‘smartphone’ today.  Within ten years, quantum computers will become the new normal.  We will talk about 10G mobile networks and our environment will have an infinity of sensors used for the internet of things.  In the next decade, we will see that many of the inventions we believe today of science fiction will become a reality: machines we can talk to, computers that learn, robots that move like humans, and even cars that fly.  Possibilities as exciting as worrisome.

 Are we incorporating ethical guidelines so that the future does not give us negative surprises?

 In the next two decades, technology will give us virtually unlimited power and intelligence.  Uncontrolled power is extremely dangerous ... more than nuclear energy.

 We have to spend as much time and money to protect humanity as we spend on technology.  Because the key in technology is not what we look for, but how we look for it.

 What areas of scientific and technological exploration are the ones that most concern you?

 I worry that we are moving too fast from one scheme based on artificial assistance to the other focused on artificial intelligence, in the sense that, instead of helping humans, it ends up replacing them.  I also believe that we need to build guidelines for the use of genetic editing methods in humans.  In any case, what we should avoid at all costs is that both biotechnology and artificial intelligence are incorporated into the arms race.