The Necessity, The Good & The Bad
One thing that the drives the human race is “Innovation”, we have the inherent urge to make today better that yesterday & tomorrow better than today. There is no denying that it is itched in our DNA. We always want to move forward, which isn’t a bad idea.
Our PC had processors in KB & MB mere decades ago; and as a kid I remember waiting for the dial-up internet to connect, praying that no one calls the landline (an incoming call could disconnect the dial-up internet connection, the line can’t connect both in parallel). Gone are those days, we have 5G in our palm and WiFi accessible even during flights; with all the sophistication what’s next?
Industrial & Information Era
We outsourced our physical tasks one by one as the Industrial Era paved way to Information Era. The changes brought in, are our current way of life.
- Walking isn’t our primary mode of transport anymore, we have motorised vehicles
- Our daily task like fetching water, cleaning the house, washing & whatnot, everything is either outsourced or automised
- Simple tasks like running an errand to the nearby store needs an app (food/grocery deliveries) currently fulfilled by a human being, it might be long for that person to be replaced by a drone. As we speak there are pilot activities happening in some corner of the world.
These daily tasks involved some level of physical activity, by outsouring these we definitely felt good, but eventually paved way to more physcial illness; predominantly obesity & heart related diseases. There could be a point in near future when obesity kills more people than starvation or it might be happening as we speak.
That being said, we have silently started,
outsourcing our brain, if I have to put it crudely.
The Imagination Era
AI has started to support our thought process through GPTs, it is currently serving the master (us) but eventually what’s in store? A little glimse of what surprised me is a LinkedIn post of ChatGTP with a body. It can’t get anymore real, can it?
There was a time on earth when every species feared the “red flower” or the FIRE. And one of the species understood how to put that to use and from there on there was no stopping; are we in a similar juncture?
Is the FIRE good or bad?
The camp fire that kept you warm and cozy vs the one that got spilled over to the nearby bushes to claim hundreds of lives. Should the jury punish the fire or the person for being careless. Eventually we understood the responsibility lies within us and made rules accordingly.
Framework for AI
We are in one such juncture where we are in need of streamlining and creating frameworks for the new era. Without frameworks the greater good can be lost. Yes, new ideas are born out of chaos but post the innovation phase a streaming phase is required; and when the framework becomes obsolete, we start from the scratch. Now is the time we decide, how to wield the double edged sword.
Necessity — vs Good & Bad
There is no percentage of technology that is good or bad. There are only good or bad people. Also there is no exact split between the good and the bad; there is always a grey area in-between. At a certain point in time a may person looks like is good or bad depending on the viewers perspective. Likewise who welds the technology makes it good or bad.
Let me explain with an instance, a cop breaking into a house to check isn’t a bad cop, whereas if I break into a stranger’s house its definitely offensive and to some extent punishable. But just another perspective, if I were to be chased by street dogs and in that case I enter a stranger’s house to save myself; it may not be punishable.
Likewise we need to factor in,
- Who is going put AI to use?
- What is the purpose?
- What is the anticipated outcome?
- How can they use it?
- How can they not use it?
- What are the activities acceptable in each domain?
Without these being answered the rapid growth (without checkpoints) would cost us dearly; just like a dam breaking its way into the village. Until such framework is in place, the responsibility lies within us — individuals [be it a designer or developer].
Use it wisely — Dumbledore, Harry Potter
Chaos and order are not enemies, only opposites. Chaos & Order combined equal balance — Richard Garriott
