New Delhi, Nov. 4 -- In their book, If Anyone Builds It Everyone Dies, Eliezer Yudkowsky and Nate Soares argue that intelligence comprises two types of work: predicting the world and steering it. Intelligent beings can "predict the world," if they are able to accurately guess what is going to happen before it actually does, much like we are able to reliably 'guess' that the sun will rise in the east every morning.

They can "steer the world" if they are able to carry out the actions that lead to a chosen outcome, just like humans can when they follow a set of directions that takes them from one place to another.

The fact that humans can do both types of work with sophistication is the reason why we have managed to rise to the top of the ...