I recently read views of Jamie Dimon, Jp Morgan CEO, on AI and its impact. I understand the point he is coming from. Based on past impact of technological advancements on society, it seems logical to extend it further. But one crucial missing factor is that the society has never been so physically-disconnected and still connected, so much depressed, sad but still on social media the only thing you see is happiness and enthusiasm. This duality makes me understand the term “We are living in an illusion” in an esoteric manner. That term is much more relevant to all of us today than only to a “Matrix movie enthusiast”.
I am a technocrat myself working in the software development industry for around half a decade now. I feel the illusion is getting stronger than ever before. In Sanskrit we have a saying
अति सर्वत्र वर्जयते
Ati sarvatra varjyate
Meaning anything in excess is harmful and should be avoided.
Sugar tastes so nice but excess causes diabetes.
Not moving feels so comfortable but excess is called Death.
Technological makes society a better place to live, but too much of it creates a society full of depressed people trapped in jails of their making (rooms), people not able to answer simple logical questions without help of technology.
I remember the movie wall-e where the humans in the spaceship had everything so they should have been extremely happy, extremely healthy.
And the reality was quite the opposite.
I want to ask you<the reader> this question, do you think you are more happy today than a few years back. Do you feel more optimistic or pessimistic about the future we will be leaving for the next generations.
Technological advancements are fine, but we are humans not robots, our HAPPINESS makes our lives worth living, not some supercool AI.
So you will be asking what is the solution. I may not have the answer but asking this question is surely a step in the right direction.
