Will artificial intelligence save us or destroy us? According to a growing band of thriller scriptwriters, we should be very afraid indeed
Maybe the “H” in Line Of Duty will turn out to stand for “hard drive”? After all, AI has become TV’s go-to villain, as proven once again in last week’s penultimate episode of BBC stablemate The Capture. Sinister puppet-master Simon was unmasked at long last and – spoiler – he wasn’t a person.
“Wait, Simon’s a computer?” asked a baffled agent. “He’s a bit more than that,” replied a smug army bigwig. “We’re using AI to support, map, execute and command ops. Simon factors in more risks and variables than you lot on the ground are capable of knowing. Tell him your objective and he’ll calculate your mission and recalibrate it for you in real time. The stats don’t lie. Simon saves lives.”
