The web in recent days has been filled with Apocalyptic stories since reports surfaced that Facebook shut down an artificial intelligence (AI) program after two AIs began chatting in a language only they understood. So what’s really going on?

After all, Elon Musk has taken shots at Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg over the dangers of AI.

None other than Stephen Hawking has warned of the threat posed to mankind by AI.

Media outlets, especially in the U.K., were filled with dire warnings.

Is Skynet (Terminator) upon us?

Yet tech news site Gizmodo said worries were overboard.

“In their attempts to learn from each other, the bots thus began chatting back and forth in a derived shorthand – but while it might look creepy, that’s all it was,” the site declared.

[VIDEO: Watch a video report about the AI scare at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaoDXYYtgK0 ]

Here’s a sample of the conversation between “Bob” and “Alice” as reported by News Bite Global:

  • Bob: i can i i everything else . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
  • Alice: balls have zero to me to me to me to me to me to me to me to me to
  • Bob: you i everything else . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
  • Alice: balls have a ball to me to me to me to me to me to me to me
  • Bob: i i can i i i everything else . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
  • Alice: balls have a ball to me to me to me to me to me to me to me
  • Bob: i . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
  • Alice: balls have zero to me to me to me to me to me to me to me to me to
  • Bob: you i i i i i everything else . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
  • Alice: balls have 0 to me to me to me to me to me to me to me to me to
  • Bob: you i i i everything else . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
  • Alice: balls have zero to me to me to me to me to me to me to me to me to

Tech newsite NewsBytes reports that the “bizarre discussions” took place as Facebook challenged two “chatbots” to discuss trading hats, balls and books with each given a certain value.

“The robots had been instructed to work out how to negotiate between themselves, and improve their bartering as they went along.”

That didn’t happen.

Is this how Skynet will get started?

Read more:

  • The BCC has a good roundup at:

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-40790258?utm_source=Daily+Email&utm_campaign=ca1a2b009d-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_08_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_03a4a88021-ca1a2b009d-248771241