In today's world everybody seems to be talking about Artificial Intelligence? The reason for this sudden hype is that scientists have taken giant leaps in this field. But, is AI all good? Or does it have a dark-side too?

Like, everything else in the cosmos, so AI is a two-sided coin. According to me, the problem we need to worry about is not about positronic brains taking on the world or enslaving humans. Instead, a more immediate problem is the problem of robots taking on various jobs and leaving unemployed. Some of these jobs like working in factories, weaving, etc. are done so cheaply and efficiently by machines that employ human beings turning out to be a major loss to the employers. That day is not when AIs begin to displace taxi drivers, pilots and accountants. To prevent rebellion from these now-jobless communities, we need to ensure that the displaced ones are provided.

Various sci-fi stories, from The Matrix to I, Robot , have exploited viewers' anxiety around a concept called ' Technological Singularity ', the moment when AIs become more intelligent than their creators. We know this shall happen. What we do not know is what happens after the singularity .

There are two possible routes AI might take. One is that which has been propagated by sci-fi genre i.e. the enslavement of humans. Another possible approach a highly-advanced AI might have towards us is the one we have towards squirrels. We ignore squirrels. We cut trees not to harm them, but because we need resources. Still, cutting trees does lead to the death of many squirrels. An AI might not actively focus on killing the puny mortals. But it shall have its own need for ‘resources’.

As Hawking expressed, the solution is not stopping AI’s development, but directing it properly.