Behold a New Servant… Or Overlord
If someone asked you: What’s the most popular day in the world? What would you say?
Independence day? Martin Luther King day? The Birthday of the Queen of England? Or maybe the day of Christmas?
You see, these are all modern concepts - give or take a few centuries - and if we were take history as a parameter, then we’ll probably find out that the most popular day in the world, is the day of Armageddon.
We Need to Talk About the Apocalypse
Countless dates have been given by “clairvoyants” all throughout history, and millions upon millions of people believed in those prophecies, some seemed to be superficially plausible, some were extravagantly overblown, and some were outright crazy.
About the only constant that all of these prophecies shared, is their infallible tendency to always remain completely inaccurate.
Well, either that or we are all dead and this is what the afterlife actually looks like. It almost makes you want to watch Lost again, don't you think?
The curious part about this phenomena is that no matter how many times these doomsday calendars been proven wrong their charm still remains intact. In fact, nothing seems to shake the captivating appeal of the apocalypse.
Maybe that’s why so many people like zombie movies, post-apocaliptic series and dystopian books, but I’m digressing.
Now, with witches, zombies, and demons all losing their fear stocks in people’s hearts, it was only a matter of time until a new big bad seized their spot as the ultimate danger that is set to bring forth the end of the world… Again.
Contrary to the aforementioned characters, this brand new threat may very well be real, but it also may very well be harmless and non-apocalypse-causing. But who knows right?
It’s name is A.I and it’s already dividing some of the brilliant people on the planet when it comes if to fearing it or embracing it.
Behold a New Servant… Or Overlord.
When it comes to Artificial Intelligence it seems to be two major schools of thoughts dominating the discussion.
Those who think that the A.Is due to their superior intelligence and their ever-updating learning process will be the saviors of the earth since they have all the answers “we”’ are “‘looking for’”.
I don’t know about you, but I haven’t seen many people looking for ALL the answers of the universe lately.
I’ve seen people saying that their attention spans are tanking, I’ve seen people claiming they don’t read anymore, I’ve seen people binging an entire season of Game of Thrones (man I love that show!)
But I didn’t see many people searching for all the answers we’re looking for.
Come to think of it, this narrative carries an air of a religious absolutism with it.
Where did here this before?
In the future we’ll get to meet an entity that gives us all the answers of the universe, it will solve all the problems in the world and cure all the diseases we can think of, and give us all the riches we can dream of...
Oh, and the best part is that when all is said and done, then we’re gonna merge with the entity and we will become Gods!
Ok maybe not religious, but definitely Cult-y.
What is it that’s jargon term everyone keeps using? Oh yeah… Ascension.
I don’t know about you but personally, I think it’s kinda scary when your best scientists start sounding like Deepak freakin’ Chopra.
That being said, not all pro-AI arguments are based on infinite health & wealth, in fact there are many reasonable arguments as well.
The main premise is that when the A.Is come along they would soon be able to solve many of the problems that humanity has been struggling with for the last decades.
And from that point forward, breakthrough after breakthroughs will start dominating the fields of science, technology, medicine...Etc.
That part, I kind of I agree with. Breakthroughs tend to start accelerating after a certain point, the curveball effect and all that jazz.
The other side of the spectrum however, has a totally different opinion on Artificial Intelligence.
They, on the other hand claim that they AIs are extremely dangerous and would inevitably be the death of us all. They would take one good look at the human species and they will start the mother of all exterminations.
And that is the subject of our next story, so stay tuned!
… To be Continued
Great post @the-alien! Thought provoking and super cool as always!
Thank you Doug! I appreciate it :)
Wow this is one of the first long articles that I really liked on here! Kudos!
I have often considered the parallel between humanity's fantasies and future science. Like you, I too see similarities between the all-knowing AI and the Godlike figure of religions.
But I see many more. How about virtual reality as a 'worldy' form of the afterlife? There are already people theorizing/working on ways to 'copy' one's conciousness into an artificial environment. Perhaps at first a cybernetic body of sorts, but eventually one might wonder why even bother with a physical body. Is this the creation of heaven where your spirit goes when your body dies?
Maybe that's a bit far fetched. How about the blockchain (or the aptly named Ethereum) as the first step in creating technological-magic? By interlinking everything in the world through the Internet of Things, we'll soon have ways of manipulating things and making them act without physical interaction. What if through the internet of things, you will soon be able to command a small army of flying quadcopters to do your bidding, all fueled by a technological 'mana' called cryptocurrency.
Hell, we protect crypto with passphrases which are 16 words long... If we improve on the word generation part and add voice recognition, we basically have invented magical spells to command the blockchain/ether.
I guess it shows.. humanity's curiosity and ability is only limited by what we can imagine, and if we can imagine it, one day we will probably be able to build it.
Maybe then, we won't have need for superficial stories anymore.
That's very interesting thought actually. I know that people are trying to upload their consciousness onto another body.. But I don't know how close they are to getting there, I don't even know if that's possible.
I expected though, alchemy before when it was considered science they tried to do the same, necromancy the same thing (although another body).. Most rulers ask their scientist to find a way to live forever or to transfer their consciousness to another body, these studies have always been funded.
If they ever get close to that it's another subject.
The question remains is if that consciousness transference is feasible? Or if it's nothing but the quest to achieve a human hope for immortality?
Thank you for the excellent comment by the way!
It depends on what consciousness turns out to be. If it's 'just' electrical signals in the brain... then I think we should be able to 'copy' that into another body of sorts. Which brings up another interesting consideration.... copying... Could you create an identical secondary consciousness?!
Personally I am of the belief that consciousness is like a piece of biological software. It doesn't really 'exist' when the switch is turned off and it's not tangible or touchable because of exists in the signals between it's parts. But if that's so I don't see how we couldn't be able to reproduce it somehow, even if that is still years away from being discovered.
I guess we should expect some things to be different. Maybe some parts of being human will be lost in the translation to a digital consciousness. Not sure if that's good or bad.. it sounds bad right now, but maybe there are advantages as well. Or maybe it's just different, or atleast not dead per se.
great comment - upvoting and following now :)
Ill be posting too!!! thanks guys
I'm loving your response @pandorasbox.
My favourite bit is your quote "if we can imagine it, one day we will probably be able to build it".
Quite an interesting article as is anything that divulges AI and dytopian natured discussions.
I believe that no matter what rules are put in place for AI, unless you got the right people that can teach artificial intelligence from the start to like humans before they see how bad we can really get, then there will be a high chance of them dominating us.
As for dystopian talk and whether or not we are alive. We could all be living out a realistic simulated dream created by a higher power for entertainment purposes. We may never have been real nor was anything else as we know it, who really knows if our minds are producing what see as real or simulated.
Keep up the good posts mate.
"We may never have been real nor was anything else as we know it, who really knows if our minds are producing what see as real or simulated." Exactly! Who knows?
Thanks for the great comment man!
No problem and I am glad you liked it! Or in this case, my mind 'believes' in this reply being a liking of my reply and not from its own doing. ;)
Really good article... I think AI will have all of the answers but only the answers that have already been answered by man and are readily available to them from online storage.
Would they be able to analyse different research sets and make leaps to join up the thinking? Cure cancer and the likes?
It's the moral judgements that an AI might have to deal with that scares me. For example driverless cars of the future, if the AI is confronted with an accident scenario where either the driver dies or a group of school kids die depending on the decisions of the AI then who gives it that choice? Anyway I'm rambling :-)
@kevkong Haha you're not rambling at all! Great points. :)
For me the moral judgement doesn't worry me as much, I think which ever decision they rule, it's gonna be more reasonable that what a politician would judge.. I mean even in 2017 they think that people should be thrown in a cage for victimless crimes.. And they think that the savagery of prison is the best way to rehabilitate inmates, it's mindblowing.
Even in conflicts I'd expect a reasoning machine to get to a more reasonable and sober resolutions as opposed to politicians who will always point to war with fear-mongering and hysteria.
I could be totally wrong of course, who knows right?
Thanks for the great comment!
This comment is more valuable than the article it self. Great point.
I appreciate that, thank you.
As do I~
You know its a very interesting plethora of possibilities to contemplate and so I appreciate you bringing this up for discussion not just with the article but with quality comments. It shows you actually care about this and are not just writing to get an easy buck.
This is actually a very important topic and only growing more so every day....
Have you seen the New Ghost In A Shell. I would assume you have. If not you really must.
Artificial intelligence will be the destruction of the world, we are already seeing it with missiles in North Korea and Russia. What prevails is spirit, robots can not have soul nor spirit. Forgive my bad english, I'm from venezuela
Yes I agree with you about the soul and spirit part, that was sort of my point about AI morality.
Really good article
Missiles only go where humans direct them. NK and Russian relationships, or their lack of, are all based around human interaction. Nothing to do with AI.
Sorry! off topic! But can someone help me out with how to add a profile picture? Steemit Newb here and just posted my first post on the Edinburgh Fringe Festival :)
I just use the eSteem app on my phone. You just click the profile pic and it opens up your phones images.
Hey Benfox, either what Kevkong suggested, or just copy the url of your picture and paste it..
If you're pic is not online, you may need to upload it somewhere, then copy the URL..
Hope that helps :)
Wow you know what I like the most about this and your articles?
You actually respond to almost all of your comments.
Basically every successful author on Steemit responds to none at all or very few. It appears that you actually care or your really good at pretending ;-)>
I like the article. Would have liked to see a lot more of YOUR opinion on the matter rather than just what some trains of thought are. But its a very intriguing and important subject.
SteemON!
Thank you, I really appreciate it!
I always try to answer all the comments, sometimes I have to do some work, but I always come back later to answer.
I think if people take out their time to read your work, and then take their time to tell you what they think.. It's only fair that I should give them the attention they deserve.
I've posted my opinion on today's post actually. I wanted to give every side to the story as much as I could first that's all.
Thanks again for the great comment and kind words.
Yes I completely understand and agree with your view point on this. Many good points and that is why I appreciate your character here and wanted to give the acknowledgment.
Good character is rare, nice to see. I will check out your new post shortly! I too have lots of work to do.
I'm looking forward to Blade Runner 2049 (with fingers crossed). From the trailer it sounds like it may follow the second of your AI views.
I would expect that problems with AI will start because humans will inevitably try and use them for their own personal gain, rather than the benefit of humanity, and it will all go wrong from there...
Yeah I'm looking also for the remake of Blade Runner!
Btw, I'm not sure I have some AI views, just posting one side of the discussions, I'll post some other thoughts on the other side on the follow up post...
While on the topic of blade runner dont forget to check the 4k version of the original classic coming in a few days, september 2017. Hear its multidisc. 35th anniversary
Oh that's cool! Is it sold in Amazon?
Apocalyptic thinking forms the background to much of recorded history. Both Christianity and Islam probably began as apocalyptic movements, and highly influential “secular” ideologies like Marxism and Nazism were founded on millenarian promises. Today, about 41 percent of Americans believe that Jesus will either “definitely” or “probably” return by 2050, and comparable numbers of Muslims expect the world to end in their lifetimes.
And why do you think is behind that at a psychological level? Do you think maybe many people unconsciously cannot perceive a world after them? Could that be a part of it?
This a fascinating piece of information by the way, thank you bring this up!
Did you know.. that the book of Revelations is 100% playing out this year. Also, it's one of the earliest, and least known cases of predictive programming by jesuits. That still means they intend to do some crazy shit, and the window is literally on right now. The first attack on the USA is Hurricane Harvey. The window was August 21 - Sept 23 (33 days). Expect madness, since some of their plans are failing.
Wonderful write up on the subject @the-alien! From my perspective we are living doomsday everyday, this is the real apocalypse that has been for seen by all the ancient people!
Life was never like it is nowadays, there's no more peace in many places of the world and this will deteriorate!
A.I looks great at first sight but i think there will be great repercussion!
Looking forward to the next part!
Thank you @progressivechef! It's a very interesting subject and it's always fascinating to explore new territories, who know's how it's gonna happen right? Hope you're having a great day!
Absolutely mate! No one knows what's gonna happen! We can just wish for the best for the human and humanity in general! I'm so happy to read your message!
My day is over here on this part of the world , well already Tuesday here!
Hope you are having a great one!
Cheers
@progressivechef
Thanks man, you too!
so amazing post!
I believe that AI and all this in technology they can either bring good or evil, depends on the person that Manipulates them! I mean they are just algorithms, so we have to always think what is better for the world and society!
Loved it! Upvoted it and followed you!! :D
You can check my blog too, I can also provide with motivation, and inspiration value for life and busines!!! :)
Thank you! Yeah I think at this stage none of us knows how that's gonna play out, or what direction it would go.. But it's an interesting thing to ponder :)
Very hot post bro ... Congratulation
Thanks man!