It took millennia for Humanity to advance from the Stone Age
to the Industrial Revolution. A couple centuries from that point, we
transitioned to the Information Age. The pace of Human development continues to
rapidly accelerate. The next Revolution is already overtaking society before
many are ready for- or even aware of it.
Some call it the Utopian ‘Dawn of Artificial Intelligence’
or (conversely) the ‘Birth of SKYNET’ and the coming Robot Apocalypse. Both
diametrically opposed predictions curiously are based on the premise that
Humans will blithely give up control to either benevolent or diabolical machine
‘overlords’. There are arguments for both extremes, and both sides raise enough
valid questions provoke meaningful dialogue on AI ethics and control. While
History reminds us that extreme people and ideas often provide valid counterweight
to over-enthusiasm and even zealotry from opposing people and views, they
usually tend to be mere lane markers for History’s true road.
Let me propose a Third Way. Call me an optimist, but we humans
have always been survivors. Pushed to the brink repeatedly (most recently by
our OWN hands!) we have not only survived, but thrived. Troubled times and
massive changes are instinctively resisted by most of people- it’s human nature.
This adaptability to change, crises and turmoil has conversely become our
greatest strength. Human Ideas have
always used technology to adapt, change and overcome.
Welcome to the Idea Age.
We are not about to be totally subsumed by AI, nor will
Humans be freed from all our cares and woes. What we are experiencing is what
we have ALWAYS done: Inventing, adapting and overcoming. We are ready to harness
amazing advancements in many new technologies. Be it AI, Virtual Reality, Brain-Machine
direct interfaces, or 3D-Printing, Fusion Power or Gravity control, what we are
about to witness will be more life and society-changing0 than anything else in
Human memory. Many advances are creeping into our lives. Self-driving cars,
Digital Assistants, Robot Home-Care for elderly and disabled. What is already
here is amazing. Ask any advanced Fighter Pilot about how High-G blackouts are
managed by AI anticipating actions and implementing them. Or how effective
hands-off, brainwave tech allows for an enhanced and more productive experience
for many military applications.
With advanced 3-D Printers, we have moved beyond plastic and
metal tools & food to printing human organs and transforming Martian
regolith to habitable communities. How soon before a Star Trek-like Replicators
moves from Sci-fi fantasy into everyone’s home? Amazon will soon deliver your
new Home Fusion Reactor to your printer in 3.65 seconds. Scientists are close
to cracking the Physics Riddle of Fusion Power. Soon, safe distributed energy
will be the norm from Bangalore to Brooklyn. And beyond.
But what will humanity do to take advantage of this once
near-magical technology? The Information Age, where concerns about power, cost
and other previous limitations, will be a distant memory. Whether you want to
create the first Martian Space Elevator, or provide electricity, water and HOPE
to Central Africa, you will only be limited by the boundaries of physics and
your own imagination. There will be less Human oppression of others merely to
survive. Though oppression will always be a bane to human society, we can
greatly reduce that unwanted aspect of human behavior by freeing as many as
possible from hopelessness and desperation. Even as people inevitably seek to
enslave others both figuratively and literally, the fruits of the AI Revolution
will mean more and more people will have the ability to free their bodies and
minds from the shackles of poverty, exploitation and oppression.
Human advancement also means mastering the interface between
Humans and machines. Through the exponential worldwide spread of Smart Phone
technology and ever cheaper communications satellites, Human communication and
the spread of Ideas and information has already transformed the daily life and
interactions of every individual on the planet, whether they use the technology
or not. The thirst for faster, easier and more complete access to information
has accelerated, as has the trend toward further personal integration of humans
and machines. Already advancing in the fields of Organic Computer displays and
storage methods, full biological integration with AI will open up immense
opportunities for all. Imagine meeting or just THINKING about someone and
having that person’s digital existence being accessed and displayed instantaneously
on either a heads-up display or a direct signal to your brain. Working on a job and having that necessary
instruction or fix at the tip of your mind. Pondering deep scientific, Social
or Philosophical ideas- and having instantaneous access to the greatest minds
on the subject. Even recalling the song you were sang as a child to pass on to
your grandchildren.
Now, there MUST be parameters to protect privacy and our
very sanity in implementing such revolutionary ideas and processes. People will
rightly demand protections for the individual, as Governments and Corporations
will seek power and advantages (as they always do). But we must not be afraid
of the future. We need to embrace it, consume it and make it our own. Human
ingenuity and adaptability has always triumphed over chaos and change.
