Researchers at Facebook had to pull the plug recently on an artificial intelligence system once two chatbots developed their own language and were understanding one another. Fast Co. Design says the AI was created as “sophisticated negotiation software”, but the Facebook team did not plan for the “two AI agents” to go beyond the English language. They did not limit the AI to English and so the agents ended up, to the best of their programmed abilities, creating and conversing with each other in a language that humans can not understand … and so the machine takeover begins … not really, but it is just a tiny bit scary to think about, especially for sci-fi buffs.

According to Georgia Tech research scientist Dhruv Batra, the agents “will drift off understandable language and invent code words for themselves”. Apparently this is a common problem with researchers who experiment with this type of artificial intelligence and Fast Co. Design says that left alone, the AI w ill end up creating an entire language all its own that won’t be understood by the human race, then they plot our demise! OK, I’ll stop with the apocalypse jokes.

The above picture seems like gibberish, but is actually a sophisticated shorthand that the artificial intelligence creates to negotiate with each other in a more efficient way. Although it is normal for humans to create language shortcuts, the goal is for the AI to communicate with people so Facebook shut it down and is now fixing the problem. The above transcription appears to be a sort of negotiation, though the bartering itself is very “off”. If you’re having a difficult time seeing what the above picture says, here’s the conversation between the two chatbots:

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

What do you think of artificial intelligence creating its own language to speak to other machines? Could it be beneficial in the long run or just scary? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below and then make sure to follow Don’t Feed the Gamers on Twitter to stay updated on all the latest gaming and entertainment news 24/7! Did you know that DFTG did a full walkthrough of Dream Daddy? Check it out here!