Robots will be 100 times smarter than humans in 30 years, tech exec says
Masayoshi Son, the CEO of Japanese tech conglomerate Softbank has been preparing his company for the singularity for quite some time.
Now the effervescent tech exec thinks robots will not just outsmart humans, but will have an IQ of 10,000 in the next 30 years.
Speaking at the Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, Son, who has made countless investments in companies related to artificial intelligence including chip companies Nvidia and ARM Holdings, stated that robots will surpass human-level intelligence rapidly and ultimately become far smarter than humanity has ever dreamed of.
“Singularity is the concept that [mankind’s] brain will be surpassed, this is the tipping point, crossing point, that artificial intelligence, computer intelligence surpass [mankind’s] brain and that is happening in this century for sure,” Son was quoted as saying at the conference. “I would say there is no more debate, no more doubt.”
By comparison, an average level IQ for a human is between 90 and 110. Geniuses such as Stephen Hawking have been estimated to have an IQ level around 160. However, Hawking has never taken an official intelligence test, according to a report in British newspaper The Independent.
Mensa, the self-proclaimed “high IQ society,” admits people to become members after they have demonstrated intelligence levels “at or above the 98th percentile on certain standardised IQ or other approved intelligence tests.” For Stanford–Binet, the minimum accepted score is 132, whereas for the Cattell test, it is 148.
The timeframe when the singularity, that concept that machines will become smarter than the human brain, occurs, is up for much debate.
In March, Google’s Director of Engineering Ray Kurzweil said that by 2029, “computers will have human-level intelligence.”
For his part, Son has repeatedly said it would happen in the “next 30 years or so.”
He has helped position his company Softbank, which in addition to the aforementioned companies, owns a controlling stake in U.S. telecom provider Sprint, for the upcoming singularity.
