Human beings are not artificial!

One of the things we are good at today is opining about what technology can do, might do and in future, what could do. But here’s a question: 

What ought we allow it do? 

AI for example seems to have gone, at astonishing pace, from being novelty and speculation to being real, physical infrastructure. Data centres seem set to occupy landscapes across the globe. The levels of electricity requirements are rising, governments are openly soliciting national investment and the exploration of AI’s potential is expanding rapidly. And imbued within the process is the old argument of progress. 

Progress however, is not simply capacity to do things faster and in greater volume. Progress also involves a corresponding challenge about what is being constructed, who benefits from it, whose pocket will be raided for funds and who actually gets to participate in the conversations and choices. 

Fair enough, jobs and investment accompany a new data centre but so does strain on communities and their existing infrastructures; also nature, of which we are part. These are not opposing forces they are dancing partners. This is where discernment matters rather than side-taking or argument supporting. 

It is not necessary to oppose technology to interrogate technology and the coming consequences do not have to be feared to be discussed. Not every challenge is a phobia. 

 Our challenge is whether our intelligence can keep pace with artificial intelligence; our wisdom increase to match the pace of construction. Before asking what AI can do, perhaps we should ask if the consequences are ones we want; is the world we are creating going to be worth living in?

There is a wealth of speculative fiction and non fiction to be assessed in our world and novelty and promised lands have been seen before. This is different. This is intelligence building intelligence, not intelligence building things that remain as they are until consciously adapted. Progress now is potentially self-propelling and it progress that might leave us all behind. Now is the time, as above, to ask: 

What is being constructed?

Who benefits from it?

Whose pocket will be raided for funds? 

Who actually gets to participate in the conversations and choices? 

Only one of these questions concerns physical construction, the others are about people: human beings. And human beings are not artificial.