Artificial Intelligence - Powerfully Amplified Digital Projection of Humanity (Part I)
What is artificial intelligence? Beyond the algorithms, computer code and electronic circuits which allow it to exist, what does it mean in reality, how do we respond to it, how far should we go in expanding its possibilities, and what will it do to our world in the future?
Artificial intelligence (AI) may perhaps be understood as the natural progression of our humanity. Given our innate desire to create, our desire to comprehend ourselves and our world, and ultimately our desire to become more powerful than we are currently; it's almost inevitable that we would try to extend ourselves in this fashion, now that we are technologically able to do so. This inevitability brings us to the essential question of: What does it mean to be human? This question will be revisited several times in the exploration of the significance of artificial intelligence in our lives.
Since we, as a matter of necessity, use ourselves as the model for this digital "intelligence", one can argue that artificial intelligence makes us explore and confront our human intelligence. Supposing we are able to build a perfect, precise and accurate digital representation of human intelligence, and then allow it to compute and function autonomously at the speed of modern processors, with massive amounts of accessible information; then theoretically we have created at the very least a simulated human-like machine and at most, a super-human entity. Even regarding the lowest end of the spectrum, allowing even very basic human intelligence to operate in the devices and machines in our world can bring many benefits. We have already seen the power of artificial intelligence to perform actions in devices and gadgets which can help us get the most of our possessions. The Google Clips camera can "decide" out of several moments of recorded footage, the best pictures to capture for you. Without human input, its like your personal automatic digital photographer. The rise of the "smart" devices along with the "Internet of Things" has everyone all abuzz with the possibilities of having our every "thing" cater to us. Yet this delightfully enticing prospect is only the tip of the iceberg of possibilities. Indeed, what most corporations and government entities are interested in are the super-human capabilities of artificial intelligence.
Whether or not we welcome or fear the idea of this new entity depends mostly on who we are, what we expect to gain or lose, and what we perceive about its capabilities and significance. Many people who love technology, gadgets, and clever devices revel in the day when artificial intelligence will operate behind most machines and processes. The idea of digital intelligence is cool and exciting to many and the vision of a new modern world, possibly resembling the slick sci-fi movies in our collective psyches allows for a favorable view of artificial intelligence. This positive perception may make people willing to minimize, gloss over, or otherwise remain "incapable of mounting an appropriate emotional response to" the potential dangers of AI as one speaker mentioned. However, individuals engaged in government, scientists, technologists and corporations may have a less rosy view as they must preemptively deal with the threats of this "super-human" power, with the potential to drastically affect society as we know it. This threat can potentially make one nation globally dominant over others or give corporations unsurpassable competitive advantage. Although nuclear power, politics and extreme ideologies have given humans the ability to cause mass destruction and suffering, using AI as a weapon exponentially increases the amount of harm that can come to living beings. Since AI is an amplification of our human intelligence, it can be programmed to have the flaws of humanity, and used to target, subjugate, oppress, terrorize or otherwise harm people. Leaders of nations have alluded to this very real threat in promulgating the importance of understanding and developing AI as a nation, to avoid being dominated by other nations (or to dominate and rule other nations). Prominent scientists and corporations have come forward to promote and assist in the creation of institutes, think tanks, rules and regulations, and open access to AI in order to promote a more safe and healthy development of this technology. Some companies have even gone as far as trying to crowd-source morality and ethics to avoid transmitting a biased frame of mind to the artificial intelligence. Ultimately, AI will have the values that we give it (until the artificial intelligence increases at a rapid pace and meets or surpasses ours at the time of so-called Singularity). Artificial intelligence must have some pre-programmed values in order to be able to make decisions, and one important start is the concept that all human life is of utmost value, and all humans are regarded as equal.
One unifying concern for both individuals and governments alike is the question of what will happen to the workforce and economy of the future? Obviously, if a corporation can employ technologies which can perform a task more quickly, efficiently, reliably, and with less cost, than a human being can, they will not fail to employ them. As we know, in order to survive competition, corporations are engaged in a continual battle to stay relevant. Magnify this on the large scale, the majority of companies will follow suit in doing what will keep them viable even if it means technology instead of human beings. The human workforce will not have a say in this sort of decision making. However the instability of economies caused by massive amounts of unemployment would make the future of our current civilization questionable. This is why there has been talk of a Universal Basic Income, which could theoretically stabilize the economy against the precipitous drop in the need for human workers. There will definitely be more jobs created, however, the balance of skills needed to fulfill these "new jobs" may not in any way match the skills developed by the population in the current education systems. Besides AI has already shown that it may be better than humans, in teaching and maintaining itself. But we of course must ask ourselves, what would be the point of having powerful artificial intelligence which can accomplish enough to make human intellectual and technical ability obsolete? What will it mean to be human if machines are better than us on those key aspects for which we pride ourselves as being at the top of the animal kingdom? Check out the videos for more insight into this phenomenon. Feel free to leave your comments on the website.
To continue reading Part II, click here.