Two sides of the AI coin

June 24, 2023

We have entered uncharted waters — rather plunged into an
unknown realm which is full of prospects and dangers.
Artificial Intelligence is improving its capabilities and reach
with every passing hour.

There is now an immediate need to consider its growing

impact and implications on humanity. The future machines
powered by AI will be trillions and trillions times smarter than
us. AI has the immense potential to dramatically impact and
alter our social, political, spiritual, moral and legal lives
beyond our wildest dreams.

Theorists of evolution and technology offer two different

scenarios emerging from the advent of the AI epoch. These
are contradictory and stand in juxtaposition to each other. One
of the scenarios posits AI as a saviour and messiah, which
will address all the shortcomings and problems faced by
humans. They believe that the restricted and limited faculties
of humans can be enhanced with the assistance of AI and the
process of a convergence of technologies.

The convergence of certain exponentially accelerated

technologies, popularly called singularity, is predicted to
amazingly accelerate human evolution from ‘homo sapiens’ to
‘techno sapiens’ or “homo deus” as Yuval Noah Hariri,
historian and philosopher, names future humans. Some of the
technologies which will bring in this revolutionary change
through convergence include biotechnology, genetics,
robotics, nanotechnology, AI and quantum computing.

This technological revolution is predicted to happen incredibly

fast. American theorist Ray Kurzweil has propounded his
theory, ‘The Law of Accelerating Returns’, to express this
speedy development. He is of the view that humanity might go
twice from the birth of agriculture to the birth of the internet in
100 years.

Let’s delve into the discussion of the two schools of thoughts

on how AI is going to affect our lives; and what lies ahead for
humans in the impending transhuman era. Throughout their
history, human lives have been limited by the laws of physics
and the five senses. AI will usher humanity into a post-human
era, addressing certain problems besetting the humans due to
their organic makeup. Problems such as aging, disease,
hunger and limited senses will be overcome in the near future.
There are promising prospects of at least doubling the life
span of humans to 150 years in the next couple of decades.

Some of the leading champions of this school of thought

include Stephen Hawking, Ray Kurzweil, Yuval Noah Hariri,
Nick Bostrom, Machio Kaku, Elise Bohan and Mark Zukerberg.
They believe in the virtue of transhumanism and recommend
that in order to survive and become an interstellar species,
humans should alter their biological and mechanical makeup.
They believe transhumanism is not a choice rather a necessity
requiring humans to transcend into post-human species.

In the age of AI, humans will be able to transport their senses

and experience real life experiences through augmented
reality tools, like haptics suits and VR headsets. Virtual Reality
or Augmented Reality allows humans to experiment with the
joy of being at different places at the same time. They can
move and act in the virtual world through avatars.

Some of the emerging technologies, enabled by the AI and

convergence of technologies — genetic engineering,
nanotechnology and 3D printing – hold promises of the
possibility for human beings to travel to other planets by
overcoming their current physical weaknesses and
incapabilities. By use of cybernetics we can enhance our
physical and cognitive capabilities, skills and potentials.
Transport is another area where AI offers great prospects for
humanity. Self-driving cars are expected to reduce 90 per cent
of road deaths. Most traffic accidents occur due to human
error and misjudgement. Self-driving cars assisted by AI will
eliminate this killing factor on roads.

In the healthcare sector, AI is expected to replace human

doctors. AI is already proving more accurate and efficient in
diagnosing diseases like cancer and other deadly ailments.
With the help of AI more potent and effective drugs will be
manufactured and treatment for deadly diseases will be swift
and cheap in the coming years.

There is another school of thought, though, that depicts a

bleak and grim scenario for the future of human beings in an
era of AI. These thinkers and scientists are of the view that
blind and unchecked progress of AI might pose an existential
threat to humanity. As such we humans need to prepare for
the coming perils posed by the AI. The proponents of this view
include Francis Fukuyama, Henry Kissinger, James Barrat, Eric
Schmidt, Thomas Horn, and Elon Musk.

In the age of AI, a lot of people will be rendered unemployed

and their jobs taken over by robots. According to the
proponents of this school of thought, the convergence of AI
and robots will result in the disappearance of hundreds of
thousands of Jobs. Just the ubiquitous use of 3D printers will
leave an indelible impact on the manufacturing sector. This
one technology will crush the global supply chains,
transportation networks, warehouses etc and give a dent of
loss of around $12 trillion to the global manufacturing sector.

Genetic engineering has its own dark side. Scaremongers

claim that genetically engineered humans might develop
social and political behaviours of their own, much different
from normal humans. The existing political and social fabric
will face a serious threat from the inequality in society,
emanating from genetic editing of humans. This will
undermine the very foundations of our political system based
on liberalism, individualism, human rights, equality and free
market policies.

Privacy of individuals is another potential victim of AI.

Personal data of people is collected and analyzed by AI
without their consent, which poses a serious threat to the
privacy and security of individuals.

AI is a double edged sword. Its promises and perils are both

huge and daunting. On the one hand, it is our bet for
developing into super-intelligent human beings, while on the
other hand it is a genuine threat that could extinguish us from
the face of the earth.

Humanity needs to tread the path to an AI revolution carefully

and cautiously. It is all the more essential that collective
efforts are made by scientists, and social science and legal
experts to determine and reduce the risks resulting from an AI
revolution.

The writer is a freelance contributor.