Networking and communication questions for cyber security.Cyborg head and binary code.3d ... [+]
Let’s face it. Everything we do – everything – will be changed by AI. From the major things that make life on this planet what it is to the trivial things that make living on this planet what it is, nothing will escape the changes AI brings.
Ever since I realized and declared, nine years ago, that AI will be the greatest, most profound transformation that humans will ever have experienced, I’ve seen the reactions to that statement transform as well.
At first it was innocent ignorance (“AI. What’s that?”) while the few people who knew a thing or two knew not much more, and Chat GPT hadn’t changed that yet through popular usage.
Slowly, the ignorance receded, and light began to come over the land – but not enough. The innovators were at it, but they were a limited few. And besides, knowledge of AI and appreciation for what it could do was still a mile wide and an inch deep. We were still in the giddy term paper writing camp, for one, and the fear of job loss camp as well.
From there we morphed into the early adopter phase, and it was then that a growing agreement was crystalizing that this was something bigger than most people originally thought.
We’re still in the early adaptor phase but hurtling through it at warp speed. So, more and more of us are now going more than a mile wide and more than an inch deep.
And that brings us back to my early prognostication about this being the biggest development that’s ever happened to us, by us, for us, because of us, or perhaps in spite of us.
Now we’re prepared to deal with the magnitude of AI. This essay will focus on five key elements of our civilization that we either deal with or forfeit our position as stewards. I will attempt to ask one overarching question for each element which, as I see it, cannot be avoided if we have any interest in moving forward positively, constructively, safely, and cooperatively.
Ethics
When will we elevate our thinking and our discourse, and finally establish metaethical considerations as not only meaningful but also prerequisite?
Genetic Science
Accordingly, on a metaethical level, will we place controls on what is already fast-moving genetic science, so that we can embellish life without usurping and competing with it?
Innovation and Invention
If we allow AI to take over the discovery and invention process, as much as it depends on observation and hunch, will we – in the very long run – discourage the uniquely human drive to reimagine our future?
Learning and Education
In this, the field that most displays its need for both high tech and high touch, where do we draw the line between the two?
Privacy
Will there even be privacy? And were you expecting a more intricate question here?
