Are robots about to take over the world?
Artificial intelligence, or AI, has been a buzzword for over a decade but has only recently become part of regular conversation.
If you’ve gotten wind of how insane AI is about to become, you might be left wondering, “why THE HELL are we creating this?!”.
I’ve thought that before. I still consider that sometimes, but after diving deeper into AI research, I realized that artificial intelligence has the potential to do an incredible amount of good in our society.
Predictions are fast approching
Predictions for how AI will change our lives that were once 20 years out have abruptly shifted to predictions that are only 2-5 years away.
Now is the time to get up to speed on how AI will impact your life. Because the truth is, AI will impact you, your work, society, healthcare, farming, and longevity, and all of this is happening quicker than you think.
This post will simplify
What you can expect in this article:
- Part 1: Basic definitions that are necessary to understand
- Part 2: The fear associated with AI
- Part 3: Jobs AI will affect and when jobs will be affected
- Part 4: How AI will change categories of society
- Part 5: What we can do to prepare our lives for the fast approaching changes in society
Part 1: Basic AI definitions
Intelligence: the ability to acquire and apply knowledge and general skills
Narrow (weak) AI: This is the current state of artificial intelligence. Narrow AI refers to intelligence that is able to handle one particular task and can be programmed with many different ‘what if’ scenarios, just like your spam filter on Gmail. Your spam filter is using many programmed ‘what if’ scenarios to consider the difference between what is spam and what should go into your priority inbox. When you don’t open emails from a certain sender, the mail system learns that the sender should be filtered to spam.
Narrow AI can NOT YET consciously decide which task is correct based on real life (emotional) scenarios like humans do. This is why its pseudo name is ‘weak’ AI. IBM’s Watson is another example of narrow AI. Watson is so sophisticated that it can beat humans at Jeopardy, but it is still not at the level of General AI (conscious thinking).
General (strong) AI (or AGI): This is what will cause a massive change in every single area of our society. In the world of AI, it’s currently a race to who will program AGI alignment first.
General AI (AGI) refers to an intelligent system that is able to receive a task and cope with it much like a human. For example, at work, humans can understand the importance of which task to do first because their boss used more emotion when describing the importance of speeding up a deadline. Or, humans can change the direction of where they’re walking because they have a feeling of a perceived threat (and humans have that feeling because they are relating the present environment to a past environment and experience that they learned from).
General AI (AGI or strong AI) will have the cognitive ability and experiential understanding of its environments much like humans, but AGI will have the ADDED ability to process and remember data at much greater speeds than humans. This is where the fear kicks in. If AGI is so much better than us, will it eventually render us useless? This brings us to the next definition…
AI Alignment (friendly AI) is AGI that is programmed with the best interest of human beings in mind. The objective is for AGI to have a positive impact on humanity as a whole. The AGI programmers are trying to create an AGI that will ALWAYS be aligned with its operators.
The skepticism about AI Alignment is that humans weren’t even created with full alignment with our “operators” (god/the universe) and we were given “free will”. Question is: were we ‘given’ free will, or is it simply impossible to control any being that has the conscious ability to think & learn based on experience?
Part 2: Fear associated with AI
This section can be a book in and of itself. But rather than getting lost in the details, I’m going to speak to the two main fears already touched on in the definitions above.
Fear #1: Will humans have the ability to program an inconceivably intelligent software to include the ethical rule to always be aligned with its operators?
AI Alignment and AGI were defined at the beginning of this article because they are the reasons why most news articles about AI read something like, “WILL HUMANS SURVIVE WHEN ROBOTS TAKE OVER THE WORLD?!”.
It is quite ridiculous to assume that the collective
Though in another breath, it is quite ridiculous to assume that if we give AI general intelligence, that it will not render us ‘less advanced’ beings useless, therefore eventually overriding their programmed human
In Joe Rogan’s podcast with Elon Musk, Joe said:
“We will be like this ridiculous biological shitting & pissing thing, trying to stop the gods. Like, no stop! We like living with a finite life span and watching Norman Rockwell paintings.”
Joe Rogan
Hah, gotta love Joe. The point is, we will be far less advanced beings, so if AGI is far more advanced, will they render us useless?
All our hope of AGI NOT destroying humans is on the shoulders of the programmers who are racing to develop AGI WITH human alignment. Because when AGI is released, like Elon Musk says, “it’s like letting a genie out of the bottle. There’s no going back.”.
If AGI is so much more efficient & evolved than humans, then what will stop them from looking at a species that starts wars, destroys the earth, kills each other, tortures animals, and immediately saying, “Hmm, might be better off without this species…”?
Fear #2: Doesn’t every lesson humans
Let’s consider one of the greatest lessons on earth: death. When we’re faced with death, we are immediately reminded of what it means to be alive. And, with our reminder of the importance of life, death also reminds us that we ultimately have NO control over anything other than ourselves. We also have no control over when it’s our time to die- so, arguably, we don’t have full control over the one thing we think we have control over.
Keeping our lack of control in mind, doesn’t it seem quite ridiculous that we are trying to outsmart this natural law of the universe (our lack of control) by creating a being, A MILLION TIMES SMARTER THAN US, while also giving it the ability to rationalize the way we do, all while believing that it will really let us control it due to our ‘impeccable alignment programming’?
Let’s now consider how humans have been controlled the past few decades. It’s clear that Americans have been controlled by a programmed message of fear and lack (i.e that we are not enough the way we are, or there is not enough to go around). Our news channels feed our fear and our constant advertisements tell us how we aren’t enough and need to buy a product to become enough or to be safe, and we better buy it now before it runs out! (lack & fear in one).
We have essentially been programmed to be insecure and depressed mass consumers who are so afraid, that we believe we need an all-powerful government force to tell us what to do, as well as control the madness of our race.
We’ve learned over the past few decades that the programming of our society is bullshit, and we are currently “rewiring our brains” to teach ourselves that we are enough, we are worthy, and we are capable as we are. We are teaching one another of our absolute power to control our own lives, and in turn many humans fell away from the charade of the government. So, what did the government do? They put on a grander show of course! They needed to once again grab our attention and impart fear and separation. At least they’re consistent… BACK TO AI.
It took HUMANS a few decades to notice this programming tactic, but AGI will likely figure out brainwashing, or “programming” techniques in mere seconds. How the hell do we expect a programmer to code AI Alignment when the programmer himself might still be brainwashed and not yet evolved to understand how he/she can rewire his own brain? Say the programmer is an evolved being, he’s still not as intellectually evolved as what he’s creating, so how can he possibly know how to program it with alignment correctly
Additionally, neuroscientists still don’t understand the depths of the human brain! Yet we are attempting to recreate it without understanding the ins & outs, and we are recreating it in a system that will be “better” than us in every way.
This section is about fear, but this article isn’t. Those are the fears that come from the cynic in me. But, I’m also a huge optimist and believer in miracles.
There is a yin to every yang. I started this post by stating that AI has the potential to do a lot of good things to progress our society, and we will touch on that in this post as well. But first, I’m throwing in a little more information that might invoke fear in some of you.
Part 3: Jobs that AI will affect and when jobs will be affected
One of the only differentiators between human beings and all other living organisms on the planet is our conscious & subconscious mind. Now, we are trying to recreate the human brain in AI, while additionally making it inconceivably ‘smarter’.
AGI will still lack humans in our ability to love and use the emotional feeling of love to make a conscious decision. (I’m using the term ‘lack’ loosely here)
AGI’s inability to feel love and emotion is why the jobs that will be replaced are the vocations that do not require deep and conscious/creative thinking.
Ready for a prediction bomb? Here it is: AI is expected to take over ALL repetitive jobs in as short as 5 years.
The first image below runs through vocations broken down into 5 categories, ranging from optimization to creative/strategy.
The second image includes the estimated years it will take for AI to take over the respective vocation category.
And surprise surprise, the only safe jobs are the ones closest to the creative or strategy side of the chart, the side that requires the most frequent use of love and compassion.
Humans are creative beings. The past few decades have taught us that we’re ‘happiest’ when using our preferred
AI will simply push us to explore this truth further. Artificial intelligence is taking all monotonous jobs away from humans. So, humans who are trying to ‘get by’ and avoid their creative side by spending time on monotonous distractions, will have to learn what they’re good at (passionate about) so they can grow further toward the right side of the chart and replenish their lack of purpose after their jobs are taken.
Artificial intelligence seems to be a manifestation of our collective desires to be more creative and passionate in our work, as well as our desire to spend more time on things that ‘matter’ rather than spending time on monotonous tasks.
In the TED talk, AI can save our humanity, computer scientist Kai-fu Lee speaks to how the US and China are driving a comprehensive learning revolution. He shares the blueprint for how humans can thrive in the age of AI by harnessing creativity, passion, and compassion: here.
Part 4: AI’s impact on society, broken down into 6 categories
Given how rapidly technology has advanced humankind in the past few years, one can’t help but consider how different the world will soon be in more areas than just our jobs.
Below, you will see how AI will impact longevity, the healthcare & automotive industries, farming, UBI, and AIs impact on empathy and learning.
This section was created as a summary of Tony Robbins and Peter Diamandis’ AI webinar. You can sign up for a copy of it here.
Longevity
We are now able to modify the gene cells that cause aging, which means we are switching from Darwinism, or evolution from natural selection, to the evolution from human direction.
There has also been a 1.2 million dollar price reduction on technology to edit your genome. So, for example, if you have diabetes, it will soon be affordable ‘edit’ it out of you. 35/36 diseases in your body are caused by a SINGLE gene off in your genome, just imagine the possibility.
In a recent world health summit at the Vatican, one of the speakers got done speaking about how AI will significantly advance our lifespan. He looked around the room, saw worried faces, and asked those present to raise their hands if they want to live significantly longer than the current life span, and, barely anyone raised their hands…
Healthcare
Technology is promising that AI will bring the cost of healthcare down astronomically. In some aspects of healthcare, AI is already in use (like diagnostic imaging), but in most areas it’s being underutilized.
For example, machine learning already has the ability to spot trends and patterns that usually go unnoticed by physicians, therefore acting as a precautionary healthcare source.
Close to half of the country’s expenditures are tied up in administrative costs. So, using AI to spot patterns and reduce the number of patients in need of healthcare will subsequentially reduce administrative costs. Plus, most administrative work will be taken over by AI as well.
In the longevity section above, I mentioned that there has been a 1.2 million dollar price reduction in technology that edits genomes. 1 genome being off is the cause
Automotive:
In a webinar about AI with Peter Diamandus and Tony Robbins, Peter said, “There will soon be no more car payments.”
This is because the cost of ordering a diver-less car will be so low, that people won’t see it necessary to buy their own cars.
Farming:
We are currently working on vertical farming. So, instead of having a farm that takes up land and then eventually destroys that land because of over-farming, we will be able to farm in a vertical building that is built to collect the perfect amount of sun & rain into its ecosystem.
We are also working on growing meat. Yes, you read that right. Growing. Meat.
So, instead of slaughtering animals we will grow the meat by itself. Food is simply taking the energy from the sun and converting it from photosynthesis to hydrocarbons. R
Saving the planet and animals one stem cell at a time.
Structure of Society (UBI):
Leaders of society (like Jeff Bezos) are huge advocates for shifting our society to UBI. UBI (Universal basic income) is also known as universal income or basic income.
UBI is a model that gives all citizens of a country or geographic area a sum of money, regardless of income, resources, job, or employment status.
Stockton, California will be the first city to test UBI. And, when AI takes over most monotonous jobs, it will leave many people who associate their life’s purpose with work, feeling “purposeless”. This will lead to a really difficult transition period as people are forced to learn how to make money in other ways.
This leads me to the assumption that we will likely be forced into a UBI system to balance out the impact of many people left purposeless/jobless.
More why Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, and Mark Zuckerberg say UBI is coming, here.
VR’s impact on empathy and learning:
Tony Robbins is in the middle of downloading his whole consciousness into AI so that his impact on people’s lives can be continued after he’s gone. Hooray! We’ll continue to be graced with Tony’s lessons long after he leaves this planet (quietly hoping that day will never come).
The same way that Tony’s work will be imparted onto AI, so will Plato’s, Aristotle’s, Gandhi’s and more. You’ll be able to enter into
Additionally, the United Nations have put hope in virtual reality as a means to close the empathy action gap. They pointed to high-level meetings where privileged attendees wore a virtual reality device that transported them to the world of a refugee child, and those transported were shockingly moved to tears.
We can optimistically predict that virtually entering into another part of the world that is suffering, will increase the level of empathy in human beings. Empathy dropped 40% in college students since 2000. Hopefully, rather than being desensitized by images of people suffering, having the ability to enter into their worlds virtually will further promote feelings of empathy. Let’s turn that % around!
Part 5: Aligning your life with an AI wo rld
This blog post is a lot to digest. If you aren’t fluent on the topic and still made it this far, then I commend you! It’s quite terrifying to first dive into what AI will cause our world to soon become (it was for me at least). BUT, you are here, and that is not a coincidence.
AI will soon free humans from the need to do repetitive & monotonous tasks that aren’t aligned with the purpose of experiencing a fulfilling human life.
The purpose of your life is not to punch in numbers in a spreadsheet, so let’s ignore the bullshit, “but what if my monotonous job IS my purpose?!”. It’s not. You know it. I know it. Unless you’ve found a way to punch your numbers over and over with love. If that’s the case, then you got me there. 😏
This article is your sign to get going and dig deeper.
What are some unique skills that are special to you? Don’t know any? What are the things that intrigue you? What do you spend time researching or doing in your spare time for free? Lean into that.
Those who aren’t focused on leaning into their soul’s calling and living with love & compassion will inevitably face a feeling of uncertainty regarding their place in the world when trying to adapt to the new future that AI will bring.
And, if you heed this advice and start leaning into the things that intrigue you and you wind up finding something that sets your soul on fire, then is that REALLY the worst thing that could happen?
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How to get what you want: here
The truth behind what motivates us: here
4 reasons to stop worrying about your life’s purpose: here
