Artificial Intelligence stars on the newest Republic of Macedonia commemorative silver coin

Stephen Hawking, Elon Musk and countless other scientists and visionaries have accelerated the discussion on the potential hazards of Artificial Intelligence. Currently, AI takes two forms, the first of which is called Narrow Intelligence. This means a machine intellect that is designed to function in a very limited range of scenarios. Good examples are facial recognition, driving a car, or Talkie Toaster in Red Dwarf.

The Holy Grail of AI is called AGI (Advanced General Intelligence), something able to perform a wide variety of tasks better than a human being could. The potential hazards are enormous. What about a military AGI that had a different interpretation of enemy to the one it was supposed to have? What about an AGI that had a simpla task, but worked out that the most efficient way to undertake it involved dangerous actions?

An absolutely fascinating field of science, although worries about imminent Terminators running aound shouting ‘Hasta la vista, baby’, are completely unfounded. It’s crtainly a great subject for a coin and even the Austrian Mint has chosen it to adorn the latest in its flagship Niobium series in 2019. They’re not alone however, and International Coin House are issuing a design of their own for the Republic of Macedonia.

The images we have at present are crisp and sharp enough, but not really a great representation of the finished article. They do point to a very cool looking coin and we can confirm that this producer does put out some beautiful strikes. Their Aureus series didn’t have great official images either, but the finished coins were superb. This coin has great potential and shouldn’t carry a ridiculous price either.

The coin is a standard ounce of sterling silver with digital colour on both sides. We don’t often see coins issued for the Republic of Macedonia, but fortunately, they’re not a nation that insists on a staid and repetitive obverse face design on their commemoratives. The mintage is capped at 7,000 pieces, which is a little high, but still barely a tenth of the numbers for the Austrian Mints similarly themed issue. A very neat issue and one we look forward to seeing actual coin images of.

OBVERSE: In the central part of the coin there is a digital optical recognition device with integrated sensors on the retina and information channels departing from it in the form of a web with contact nodes. In the upper part of the coin coat of arms of the Republic of North Macedonia, around inscription “REPUBLIC OF NORTH MACEDONIA”. At the bottom inscriptions: “100 DENARS” and “2019” – the year of the issue

REVERSE: In the central part of the coin there is a depiction of artificial intelligence in the form of a crystal and the power supply circuit in the form of the human brain from which the network of sensors surrounding the globe is spreading . At the top of the coin a handshake as a symbol of close cooperation of mankind with artificial intelligence. On the upper left hand-side a hallmark “Ag925”. Around the coin inscription: “artificial intelligence”.