These 7 things might ruin the world: On Singularity, Genetics, Surveillance and other weird stuff.
Today I stumbled on a worrying quote by Elon Musk, which made me think a lot about the biggest future threats in our world. I have to admit, Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) was not among the things that make me worry about the world my daughter might grow up in.
Well, now it is, because apparently ‘Building intelligent machines is like summoning the demon’: http://youtu.be/_rfHNvHu8OE according to Mr. Musk.
And Stephen Hawkings, also known as being not the dumbest guy in the universe, comments on the same topic: “Success in creating A.I. would be the biggest event in human history, Unfortunately, it might also be the last..)”
So here we go… My Top 7 global threat list:
1) Artificial Intelligence (as explained above)
2) Genetic Selection. We already are able to decide, if we want to give birth to a baby after having it’s DNA analyzed for potential genetic “faults” (and gender, btw.). Many people already fertilize the female eggs “in vitro”. Would you not have some spare eggs fertilized and than pick the one with the least DNA risk, to avoid having a sick child? And if so, would you not — if possible — pick the one with the highest IQ or the one with bluest eyes? Genetic Selection (and Genetic Alteration) are on our doorsteps and will change human mankind (and religion, and culture, and much more) forever.
http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/142180/jamie-f-metzl/the-genetics-epidemic
3) Global Surveillance. Much has been said about this. Unfortunately most of it is true. Edward Snowden did humanity a great favor in uncovering the range of global surveillance. Technology put a camera, microphone and GPS tracker in everybody’s pocket. The Internet made all of our online communication and data transparent and hackable. Governments and other organizations will seize this opportunity and install a global surveillance system. That’s terrible news for each free thinking individual and for society as a whole.
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/edward-snowden
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nineteen_Eighty-Four
4) Drugs. The good news here is actually, that even if there is a global surveillance network, that is controlling every step we take, even if there are some sort of super humans with genetically improved intelligence and a wired computer that outsmarts us all — chances are, that we just might not give a shit. Because the drugs (aka “medicine”) we are constantly taking are making us so happy, that there is no need for distrust or rebellion. Things will be just fine. Hurray!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brave_New_World
5) Climate Change. That’s an obvious one. If you’re not scared by the speed and effectiveness we are changing our planets climate and the potential (very likely) dangerous outcome of this, you are either living in Siberia, where some additional degrees in global warming are more than welcome, or you are a complete idiot.
References: Just watch the News. Any channel but Fox.
6) Robots and Drones. The fact that Boston Dynamics — the company that actually builds cyborgs that look like the ones from “Terminator” — was bought by Google recently, didn’t comfort me too much. I’m happy though, that Boston Dynamics are also working for the US military industry. I’m sure that nothing bad comes from an armed, autonomous robot that patrols the streets knowing — thanks to facial recognition and Google data — everything about you and is controlled by some algorithm from somewhere in silicon valley. I’m actually really glad, that big data now joins robotics. That will also prevent us from risk human lives in future wars (just send them robots!) and also from you and me having to work. Because whatever you are doing, I’m sure in the very near future, there will be a robot doing it for you.
The Economist: Rise of the Robots — http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21599762-prepare-robot-invasion-it-will-change-way-people-think-about-technology-rise
http://www.bostondynamics.com/robot_Atlas.html
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver — Drones: http://youtu.be/K4NRJoCNHIs
7) Nuclear War. And then, last but not least, there is a chance that we just might ordinary kill each other in a proper global, nuclear war. A bit old fashioned but still quite a clear and present danger. Just remember: Duck and Cover.
Most of these threats to human mankind are well known for many years. There are movies and books about them. The really scary part is: Each one of them is about to become reality right now.
Well, good night and good luck.
October, 31th 2014,
Adrian
PS: Should you be depressed about all this? I don’t think so. Luckily the future is still in our hands, and hopefully we’ll be wise enough to prevent us from the worst outcomes. Should you be worried? Probably yes. Just a little bit…
