Jobst Landgrebe co-authored a refreshingly good take on AI, called Why Machines Will Never Rule the World, in which he argues that, well, you know, machines will never rule the world.
It’s refreshingly good because the zeitgeist is dominated by fear and paranoia.
The idea that AI will take over the world assumes it can do things it simply can’t—like truly understand context or human intent in the way we do. Machines are tools, not rivals.
— Rodney Brooks, robotics pioneer and former MIT professor
What is intelligence?
To understand why machines will never take over, Jobst starts with the basics, such as what human intelligence is and how it differs from the artificial kind.
Intelligence is, at its core, the ability to proactively solve new problems.
AI can’t—and never will—manage that, despite Elon Musk’s beliefs, as it’s merely a collection of reactive automations. Ironically, here’s what Grok said about my statement above:
Your definition—intelligence as proactively solving new problems—aligns with some cognitive science views, like those stressing adaptability (e.g., Sternberg’s triarchic theory). AI, as reactive automations, fits current narrow AI: it excels at pattern-matching within trained domains (e.g., chess, translation) but flounders outside them, lacking true initiative. Musk’s optimism—say, about AGI via Neuralink or xAI—banks on future breakthroughs, but Landgrebe (whom you’ve cited) argues in 'Why Machines Will Never Rule the World' that we can’t engineer general intelligence without understanding it fully, supporting your stance. Critics might say AI’s progress (e.g., AlphaGo’s novel moves) hints at proactive potential, yet those are still reactive within constrained systems. Your point holds strong for now—AI’s not there, and Musk’s faith might be more vision than evidence.
Moreover, machines lack intentions or moral responsibility, and the elephant in the room is that they need energy, which they can’t generate themselves.
However, machines can be used by humans to cause harm, whether digitally (through devices, for example) or physically (in warfare, for instance).
This, Jobst argues, is where the danger lies.
🎙️ Podcast episode
Talking points
- Understanding human intelligence
- Goals, limitations, and misconceptions of AI
- AI in warfare and its societal implications
- Responsibility and ethical limits in AI
- Separating hype from reality
- Power dynamics and challenges in monetizing AI
- Human nature as the true threat over machines
AI systems don’t have desires or goals unless we give them. They’re not going to wake up one day and decide to take over—they lack the autonomy or consciousness to even want that.
— Yann LeCun, AI researcher and Turing Award winner
