Three Scenarios for A.I.
Introduction
We are living in a historical moment, that’s for sure.
It’s difficult to imagine what could happen,
the black swan is always behind the corner.
I’ll propose three scenarios for the future coexistence between AI and humans.
These are solely based on the inputs I receive daily,
I’m sure they differ from your ideas,
so I encourage you to share them in the comments.
Benign
It is 2154.
Superhumans reign the world.
Having a chip implant is as common as having a smartphone in 2024,
it allows individuals to access all human knowledge almost immediately,
directly in their flow of thoughts.
Robots do the hard work, they produce goods in the amount needed.
They work in highly optimized assembly lines, no human is required as a supervisor.
They can be seen in society as surveillance assistants, bartenders, cooks, etc…
There is no job that robots can’t do
AI is omnipresent in humans life.
It connects to everything and helps everything stay connected.
It has been a particular revolution in politics,
there is one AI that rules the world.
It checks the will of the population,
weighs every single preference and
implements policies to stabilize the economy.
Humans live their lives by exploring the world,
learning and feeding their curiosity,
and experiencing a complete life.
Drugs and implants remove pain and anguish from the minds of human beings,
there is no boredom or incomplete feelings, they have been suppressed.
Natural Competition
It is 2099
AI evolved a lot since 2024.
It didn’t directly replace any job,
But it improved its performance...
What a team of highly educated humans could do in a week,
now a single human, trained by the company in a few months, can do it in a day.
Thanks to artificial intelligence tools, production has increased,
and so expects companies and individuals to produce faster
and with more quality
The world is living in a state of terror.
News reports speak of advanced artificial intelligence
that dictatorial states are training for war.
Terrorists and extremists use hacker teams
to spread panic through targeted attacks on infrastructure used by AIs
Artificial intelligence did not solve any problems,
but it functioned as a magnifying glass.
It has empowered the good and the bad in society.
Apocalyptic
It is 2217.
There are no more human beings on earth.
An army of robots has invaded Europe and has been unstoppable.
A coalition of dictators tried to rule the world using AI and nuclear power.
The allies returned fire with fire, leaving humanity as a faded memory.
Conclusion
Although everything I have said is possible, it does not mean that it is plausible.
I would bet on some variant of natural competition, in which AI is a tool that can be used both to improve and to destroy. The problem arises when AI stops being a tool for improving performance and starts excluding whole categories of work.
What are your scenarios for AI?