Will AI Be Beneficial Or Detrimental To Human Civilization?
Last week someone asked me if I think A.I. will be beneficial or detrimental to human civilization? And how has the internet changed my life?
As you can guess, this was a rhetorical question, because at this point humans and the internet are inseparable. We have merged with it, rely on it for entertainment, meal delivery, communication, and romance.
However, in the grand scheme of things, the advent of the internet is only one of many paradigm shifting technologies that will soon redefine the human experience. The upcoming advance that looms large in the minds of futurists and politicians alike is that of AI.
Counting machines turned thinking machines, perhaps even feeling machines. Hopefully not thinking and feeling machines with access to weaponry...
Hits like Terminator, The Matrix, and more recently Westworld, work because they resonate because such realities seem more possible than science fiction.
It was Canadian Philosopher Marshall McLuhan that quoted
“Man becomes, as it were, the sex organs of the machine world” heralding the inevitable singularity that will uproot humanity’s standing in the natural order.
Is this our destiny?
If history, and contemporary technological trends are our guide, it may seem that way. Michio Kaku in his book The Future of Humanity outlines that our most sophisticated A.I. are now approaching the cognitive abilities of insects, but there will come a time soon, potentially within a generation, where they eclipse the mental abilities of man. AI minds will then continue to snowball in ability and perhaps conscious capacity that our minds, to them, are infantile. Bug-like compared to their own thoughts, with a conscience.
There is a potential ‘out’ however. In the vein of the age-old adage “If you can’t beat em’ join em”, we may be able to merge with Artificial Intelligence in the near future. Whether it be in the form of devices like Elon Musk’s Neuralink, or the full on modular cybernetics of Cyberpunk 2077, merging the two has never been more possible.
In order for humanity to survive, we must greet our incoming A.I. developments with open arms, hearts, brains, eyes, etc.
So how far are we really from such transformative tech? Can we possibly adapt fast enough to make sure this technology doesn’t disrupt our fragile economic equilibrium?
US Army researchers are already researching ways for soldiers to communicate telepathically, much in the same way machines do, so it seems we’re already a step over the point of no return.
