AI transformation is upon us
AI promises to transform our lives. Is it a blessing or a curse for humanity?
If you’re anything like me, you’ve been keeping track of the news, stock market, and following influential individuals who are discussing the future of AI. In my world, it looks like all that’s being talked about.
Proponents of AI assert that we’re on the verge of a technological transformation of business, improving customer service, optimizing supply chains and business processes, and giving time back to employees they can use for creativity, relationship building, and driving more business value. Hyper-automation will replace low value, menial tasks as fast as possible. Code and content creation will be hyper-accelerated, enabling companies who use it to move fast to unlock the trillions of dollars in new value creation. AI-powered thinking and technology will solve our ecological, economic, and energy problems. We’ll use AI responsibly to create safety in a dangerous world. AI will liberate humanity to achieve our full potential.
Opponents of AI argue that we’re headed for a dystopian future like we’ve seen and read about in sci-fi movies and novels. It will destroy our critical thinking skills and create psychological dependency. Building out the AI infrastructure will destabilize our already fragile ecosystems with more pollution from mining and energy production. AI will automate humans out of jobs as a new class of AI-power managers and workers rises to dominate every industry. Add in the robot armies and we’ll have no choice but to place most of the population on basic income. Elites will control where we go and what we say, think, eat, and buy. And once we’re plugged into the metaverse, we’ll never escape.
During my long trip, I previewed the second scenario, masked by the first. On the surface, they got it right. The community delivered on the promise of safety, security, and prosperity for all. It looked too good to be true. It was.
I’ve stated before that technology itself is neutral. The consciousness and intent behind the technology determines its impact. On planet Earth today, humans use AI technology with responsible and nefarious intents.
AI introduces moral dilemmas. It enables centralized control through technologies like digital IDs, digital currencies, social credit scores, robots, drones, and electric vehicles with kill switches.
This means AI can stop bad things from happening, such as
- Human trafficking
- Overfishing
- Pollution
- Violence
- Cyberattacks.
It also means AI can take away individual freedoms, such as
- Financial independence
- Travel restrictions
- Rationing
- Censorship
- Cancellation.
AI used with enlightened consciousness could help us protect the planet’s ecosystems, produce food and use natural resources more efficiently, design revolutionary technologies, enable small businesses, and empower independent artists to create immersive experiences.
AI used with repressive consciousness could implement a version 2.0 of the dystopian streaming series I live in right now, extracting more and more resources to expand its invasive reach, squashing individual expression, critical thinking, and spiritual awareness.
Sounds like we’re back to the critical choice, evolutionary or inverted pyramid consciousness.
Questions we must all ask ourselves and each other:
- Do the benefits of AI outweigh the risks?
- Can the planet sustain the ecological impacts necessary to build an AI-and-robotics powered global society?
- Who decides how to use AI, who gets access to the data, and when enough is enough?
- Can we trust those entrusted with the keys to AI to use it selflessly in service to humanity?
- How will the souls of our children, growing up as AI natives, fare in a society built by and around these technologies?
Time to face facts. The AI boom has begun. The inverted pyramid society must repeat its boom-bust cycle to keep citizens engaged and distracted. Building data centers, electrical power generation plants, the supporting infrastructure and software, satellites, robots, drones, autonomous vehicles, and the Internet of Things will fuel the boom. If we follow our historical psychology and patterns of behavior, we’ll buy in because that’s what we do. We want money and the privileges an economic boom supplies. And we’ll prosper as we displace our fellow humans and unwittingly build our children’s prison.
Unless we choose to wake up together. Let’s use the power of AI to help solve our most urgent problems. Let’s get on with undoing the damage we’ve done to the planet.
Council-in-training is a fictional character from a forthcoming novel series by Author Jeffrey Griffith.
