A.I. Speaking
Over the past few decades, our lives have radically changed with the introduction of new technologies. If you haven’t noticed, most search engines are now equipped with A.I. (Artificial Intelligence).
One search can produce endless amounts of information, most of which you didn’t ask for, but can be a delight for someone like me who loves mindless distractions. I recently imput my blood test results, and the explanation I got was more thorough than that of the medical practitioners. If I wanted to know more, the wealth of information was abundant.
We’ve all had those experiences of going to the doctor and forgetting to ask that important question. Now, there’s no need to live in that regret. A.I. can probably give you a more detailed explanation than your medic.
Does this mean that A.I. is infallible? No, but it does mean that we have a useful resource at hand that is easily accessible. We don’t have to wait or make another appointment.
A.I. can guide you to other resources to help with any problem, whether it’s medical, philosophical or whatever. Try asking A.I. a philosophical or scientific question, and you’ll find you’re presented with troves of information. The arguments for and against a particular explanation are explained in a concise manner.
A.I. is a Tool
What we need to understand about A.I. is that it’s a tool. It’s not a confessor or a counsellor. It’s not to be used as a therapeutic measure because it’s not designed to do that.
You might, for fun, want to ask it some personal questions, and for fun, enjoy, some of those answers. But I wouldn’t want to risk the details of my personal life to a computer program.
A friend of mine asked A.I. to describe her personality, and the results were surprisingly accurate, if not flattering. As with any new technology, we need to treat each new development with some caution. A.I. is not sentient. It’s limited to processing information according to what it’s been asked.
It has not real autonomy, and can’t, in the way we understand thought, think for itself. However, the speed in which it can deliver information surpasses our ability to process such information.
We have built machines that can outstrip our ability to access data, and this is something remarkable. It’s something we should be proud of achieving. However, there are risks.
Future A.I.
When I wrote about this before, I drew attention to Stephen Hawking’s fear that we were creating the means to fuel our destructive tendencies. If A.I. were ever to become sentient, we might find ourselves becoming replaced by a more efficient being. I’m sure if A.I. were asked to determine what the greatest risk to the planet is, we’d find ourselves being named.
I just asked that question, and the reply was as follows: the greatest threat to Earth is not an external threat but ourselves. The threat is then broken down into 5 things; climate change, biodiversity loss, soil, water, and ocean degradation, unsustainable energy and consumption, and pollution. Now, if A.I. were given complete autonomy, and we were to ask it to eradicate the greatest threat to our planet, we’d find ourselves in the precarious position of facing its judgment.
A.I. is a means to an end, insofar as we can access an incredible amount of information in seconds, but we’re not satisfied with this achievement. We want to push this new technology further. We want to create, in a god-like fashion, a being that’s capable of thinking autonomously.
This idea is not simply the work of science fiction, companies across the globe are actively seeking to find how far we can take these new developments. There is no regulation to stop the I.T. industry in achieving the goal of making a machine in our image, and this is when we need to carefully go where angels fear to tread.
Knowledge is a dangerous thing, and in the wrong hands can fulfill Hawking’s prediction about A.I. Rather than rush to create a new kind of being, we should begin by taking responsibility for our misuse of this planet.
The Future is Ours
Having identified those five areas for us, we should take this information and work towards saving ourselves by curbing our senseless destruction of the place we call home. Our short-sightedness will have deadly consequences for those who come after us.
It doesn’t take a prophet or A.I. to tell us what will happen if we continue to abuse the Earth. We’ve been told over and over again what catastrophes we can expect.
When the weather patterns change, as the Earth warms up, we will see nature unleash calamities. It’s almost too late to change the deadly effects of climate change, and, in all honesty, there’s not been any serious attempt on our part to do so. We should not be surprised then if people suffer and die as a consequence to our inaction.
We have given A.I. so much information to process. Having input our latest scientific data, equipped it to amass this information, and analysed it, we refuse to accept its conclusions. The old saying the height of madness is to repeat the same action over and over again, expecting a different outcome applies to us.
We’ve built a machine that does what we ask it to do. It’s given us answers, even solutions, to avert our destruction. What it can’t do is force us to act in good faith.
A.I. is a wonderful invention, and we should be proud of it, but it’s not able to change our fate. We are the masters of our destiny.
It is we who will write this story of humankind. It can end as a tragedy or, if we learn to curb our destructive tendencies, we can save ourselves.
We have something A.I. doesn’t have. We can make decisions that will impact the future of our world. It’s a case of making these choices now or creating a machine that will make those choices for us.
