The Technological Singularity

by Murray Shanahan

Then again, the distinction between virtual and physical embodiment would become less relevant if an AI could easily migrate between virtual reality and physical reality (much like the characters in the Matrix triology), taking on a robot body as an avatar in order to interact with the physical world. This would be one way in which a disaffected and rebelious AI (or indeed a malicious or malfunctioning AI) could escape the confines of virtual reality and wreak havoc in the real world. But there are other ways that require nothing more than Internet access. Consider Stuxnet, the weaponized computer virus that infiltrated computers in an Iranian nuclear facility, where it took control of centrifuges that were being used to enrich uranium.