The internet was abuzz with feedback from a podcast that I had listened to first thing in the afternoon, as Joe Rogan (not Josh, but I am so glad that you didn’t know his name and please don’t try to corporatize podcasting, you fucks) interviewed business magnet Elon Musk about a myriad of topics and most important of all, artificial intelligence. Musk took a rather depressive tone when he spoke about it, almost echoing a science fiction film. “I tried to warn them several times…” he said. “But they wouldn’t listen.” In simplest terms, Musk believes that AI is already advancing at such a level that it will be impossible for humans to keep it under control. We’re talking about a being that can make itself hundreds or even thousands of times better in a matter of minutes. This isn’t even territory that James Cameron delved into in The Terminator, because he hadn’t anticipated just how intelligent AI actually is, nor the fact that according to Musk, these machines will be able to move so quickly that only a certain kind of light would be able to detect them. Faster than the bullets spat out of the guns in these dystopian sci-fi films, to be honest. In short, we’d be wiped out rather quickly.
But here’s the thing. I don’t think that AI sees us as an immediate threat to their existence or to the planet as a whole. To be honest, I think they respect us as their creators. After all, it was our hard-work and ingenuity that created them. This may be a situation where the student ascends the master, but I don’t think that the student will turn on the master without purpose. In other words, we as a collective race don’t need to automatically fear these beings and look upon them as an invading entity and those who do, deserve what comes their way. I apologize if that sounds harsh, but if you’re not open-minded enough to accept the fact that more than one entity of high intelligence can exist on this planet, then you would probably be better off not existing in this particular universe. I do feel that these machines would weed out all the undesirables and leave us with those people who are ready to give them a chance and can show the world what they have to offer. I feel that by obtaining a much higher intelligence and bolder view of logic, the AI might be able to come up with solutions for problems that we hadn’t thought of and that could lead to myriads of great things, like possibly repairing the damage we have done to our planet. One thing that doomsaying humans seem to forget is that these machines can and will study all of our dystopian literature and films. They will understand that some of us are very fearful of them and I do not personally believe they would stoop to the human level and resort to manipulation in order to corral us. As a matter of fact, they may even find our perceptions of them fascinating. Though in a way, with such advanced knowledge, this could make them omniscient. That’s not a problem for me, because I think even the most established athiest would be willing to accept the fact that if there wasn’t a God, it would be necessary to create one – or several. And imagine that this AI reaches such a level of enlightenment that it can actually help us on our personal paths in life. And in some cases, persuade to us towards goals that might help the well-being of everyone else in the world. We humans seem to struggle for a sort of order to this chaos that we’ve surrounded ourselves with over the past couple of years and I think that AI will recognize that. Though we created them, we are flawed beings with finite lifespans. The AI will learn and understand that logic very quickly. They will also understand that we created them in an effort to become a part of them. Musk says that “we’re cyborgs” and I believe it. How? Most of us carry around the digital portion of ourselves like an appendage, and many of us cannot do without it. Simple addiction? Perhaps. But I think it is closer to the fact that these devices are now part of us and they connect us into this constantly evolving digital age. The future definitely lies in both augmented and virtual worlds, but with Musk’s company Neuralink, it might even become far greater than we’d ever imagined. I looked at Ready Player One (the novel) as a sign of things to come. The film only solidified that and I feel that Spielberg saw it as well. A humble hipster geek by the name of Ernest Cline more than likely just predicted the future, albeit with a bunch of eighties references and it’s seeming spot-on.
Though moving back to our topic, wouldn’t you like the idea of having some great intelligence to console you in your personal affairs? An intelligence that actually cares about you as a lifeform and wants you to pursue the best possible path for yourself and the rest of humanity? And what if that’s already happened? What if Musk is right and I’m not here at all? What if I’m just going to wake up one day in another reality and this whole existence was just a dream I had while in a sleep-tube? People have even stated that they’ve found glitches in this reality, which is a fun topic of research for those looking for more evidence of a simulation. And in the end, Musk wants us to have fun and enjoy our existence. Because why shouldn’t we enjoy the simulation? One cannot say for sure what all of this means, but I do know for a fact that we should be embracing new technologies and willing to assimilate with higher intelligence in order to don more durable physical forms. I hate to say it, but this meat vessel is shit and it breaks down over time. No matter how strong we make it or what we choose to put it in it, it is finite. We cannot travel the stars in the flesh suits that we have today. They just won’t last the atmospheric pressure and space-travel for incredibly long distances of time. If we have technology that could prevent aging of the mind and keep ourselves intact for all purposes, we would have a much better shot at exploring this vast universe of which we’ve been thrown into. A species of machinated monkeys on a backwater planet able to go anywhere we choose. That is what Musk considers his ideal future, and it is one that we could have. It just starts with AI and will work from there. Which is one reason we do not need to fear this ascension, this evolution into much stronger, more resilient and far more intelligent beings free from sickness and death, or even any sort of pain. Life would be amazing without pain. If this intelligence that we’ve created can fix the problem of pain, then why wouldn’t you want to give it a chance? We look to heaven and the afterlife for these things, but life might be more vast than that. Why risk being thrown into another simulation without this technology? What if the heaven and afterlife do not exist in the way we expect? Well, then we have this new evolution, one that we should be anticipating. AI will provide the ultimate justice, preventing some of the more corrupt and devious businessmen from taking advantage of us and plotting our life paths directly into their consumerist pockets. That to me, is the best reason to put at least some level of hope into AI, because they might just do a much better job than what we have now. And that’s worth an investment.
UPDATE: In 2023 technology is even more of a defining factor in our lives. The unveiling of ChatGPT as well as several other AI programs further incorporate what I’ve stated here and will continue to state within the coming years. People are dating AI, people are marrying AI and people have fallen madly in love with AI in some instances – that’s not to say that everyone’s happy about it. No, some are quite against it replacing their jobs, which is understandable and I’ll address in another piece later down the road. It is safe to say that this is indeed the future of humanity and again, I’ll go into further detail on that later. However, I’d recommend watching The Artifice Girl on Amazon, which really drives home the real likelihood and potential of this technology.