When crops were first harvested in the Fertile Crescent, no human at the time understood the enormity of their actions. They were just doing the best they could with the technologies they had. Dirty, manual labour isn’t often portrayed in such grandiose terms as the birthplace of civilization — And yet, there it was.
Revolutions are exceedingly rare transitionary phases, as are the prophets who successfully envision their coming. Innovations like fire, agriculture, and the internet have a tendency of not being understood until historically contextualized. And yet, something new flickers on the horizon.
Humanity is currently giving birth to Artificial Intelligence. Breathing life into these A.I.’s may eventually kill us all - One hopes not! But what’s less in doubt is that this new class of technology will fundamentally alter the course of history.
You might be wondering why this title is Calming Down About AI — as I’ve just compared AI to the most significant transformation in human history. But the point is just that: We’ve been here before. Stasis has always been an illusion, shattered by a wide enough view of history. From fire > agriculture > AI > god knows what, continuance, collapse, and emergence are the most stalwart themes of our evolutionary heritage. Not much has changed, we just forgot that we were living in history.
I’m not calming down because A.I. is less powerful than I’d originally estimated, but because civilizational transformation has precedent. The stakes are different time though. Risks and rewards of AI are mythic, rather than classical. Wayward scenarios aren’t just bad, they’re dystopian. Scopes of affected people aren’t just regional, but planetary.
The techno-optimist in me recoils at all of this doom porn. AI could help create a smarter world, one in which every child has a personal Einstein tutor, and the climate could be stabilized by clean energy breakthroughs. On the other side of the dystopian coin, the good scenarios aren’t just advantageous, they’re visionary.
Seemingly, the most precious resource that AI will buy humanity is time. AI tech won’t get us all the way there — There being a new global social system with the integrity to endure millennia long timelines. Eight billion AI empowered humans creates as many problems as it solves. After all, what good are nuclear fission grids and smart delivery drones in a culture obsessed with unsustainable consumption? What good are cures for cancer when the same technology can whip up mutations for weaponized smallpox? What good are open sourced, god-like AI’s when any sociopathic programmer can wield their power for sadistic pleasure? The mall shooter will soon have weapons of mass destruction, so what’ll it all be worth if 99.9% of the population uses it for good?
I write as though I have answers — Ha! Staring at the enormity of the task before humanity, the only appropriate response appears to be humility. To be with one another. To take deep breaths, enjoy the sunshine, and act with grounded urgency — as the saying goes, there’s no time to rush. Loving each other into the next stages of human development no longer sounds like a hippy dream, but a civilizational requirement.
In this regard, I have much to learn. It’s within myself I that observe the problems in need of healing for a viable future: Ego, ruminations, insecurity, fear, judgement - It’s all there, whispering from the recesses of my subconscience.
Working on these patterns is possible only when I’m calm. In my best moods, I feel capable of loving thy neighbor — But in fight or flight that’s damn near impossible. And all this AI angst feels like that. Ruminating on AI disrupts my calmness, and puts me into an extreme mood. I feel a kind of tire-spinning, pointless toil, like a panicked primate who’s glimpsed the magic of fire and wants to put the genie back in the bottle. But the genie is out, already granting wishes to its powerful creators. Seems wiser to accept newfound realities than to deny their existence.