Last week we posted a great post about how Artificial Intelligence (AI) is facilitating criminal behavior. We added that several leading technologists worry about an AI enabled future. What happened after posting that story shows how perfectly things are unfolding for the New World Order that is Copiosis.
After posting the piece we got a comment from a regular reader. She suggested the AI threat is greater than we led on. We don’t disagree. But we also know how the Universe works. “Threats” often end up being harbingers of future goodness. So while this reader wanted to highlight the threat, perhaps, we see her comments as amplifying our own idea. That is: that the world is preparing for Copiosis.
All hell broke loose
Right after receiving that comment, we listened to an excellent podcast. In it Geoffrey Hinton, the “Godfather of Artificial Intelligence” laid out a horror scenario. One in which a benevolent AI wrests control of more and more processing power. Then uses that power to drive humanity out of existence.
He offered another scenario too. In this one, deep fakes and other misinformation get created en-masse. Bad actors use misinformation to destabilize democracies. Meanwhile, highly developed, rival nations take advantage of AI to create super soldiers. These autonomous AI soldiers would fight these countries’ future wars in place of humans. Hinton argues these countries MUST create them as others will too. Such combat drones, he said, make it easier for countries to go to war. After all, if these soldiers replace sons and daughters on the battlefield, why not go to war?
Then, just days later, a consortium of high tech leaders descended on Washington. They warned that AI presents an “human extinction event” in the making. Some went so far as to pen a letter supporting a moratorium on further AI development.
Meanwhile, political leaders are racing to catch up. Regulators too, and not just in the US. Last week Italy banned ChatGPT. Other countries are fining AI companies for data breaches. Britain, The European Union, and China are ramping up regulatory plans to reign in AI. Seems the whole world is on this.
The problem isn’t AI tho
The problem with all this is simple. From a Copiosis perspective, it’s obvious the trouble isn’t AI. The problem is incentives driving AI development. AI developers are racing to be the first in their fields. Those who win that race stand to gain multiple TRILLIONS of dollars in AI application revenue. Even second or third place developers will probably make hundreds of billions of dollars.
Profit motive drives humanity extremely well. The problem with that incentive though is well known. It drives both moral and immoral human activity. That’s what we pointed at in last week’s post. It’s not so much that AI is the trouble. The trouble remains profit as an amoral incentive. In other words, making money is most people’s goals. It’s every business’ goal. At least in capitalism it is. But no inherent safeguards exist driving how that goal gets realized.
Yes, regulation exists. Yes, people, generally, are oriented to doing good. But the money-making incentive for many is just too great. Especially fast money. Especially when the potential to make a crap-ton of money is HUGE.
So it’s not AI that’s the problem. It’s not even autonomous, AI-driven super soldiers. Such soldiers can make war fighting far less bloody. And if everyone has them, that could be a really good thing. Just look at the nuclear deterrent doctrine. The idea is, everyone has nukes, so everyone can obliterate the other guy. That makes the world a pretty safe place. If you know that if you unleash your nukes you’re going to get nuked, you’re less likely to push the button.
The New World Order is here
So humanity faces a truly existential crisis, brought to us by Artificial Intelligence. This crisis coincides fantastically with climate change. There’s no mistaking that we now face at least two human extinction events. We wouldn’t be surprised if several more show up.
That’s because humans tend to procrastinate. The adoption curve model has something to do with that. Critical mass adoption of ideas that make the world better, usually don’t happen over night. No one wants to give up certain income streams for uncertain ones. So humanity usually gets right to the brink of major catastrophe before changing course. It’s too costly to change any sooner.
We still have a ways to go before humanity readies itself for the New World Order. That’s because very few fingers point to the major problem behind all these existential threats: the profit motive, money and the need to earn a living.
Until more figure out the real problem, we’re going to see more and more “threats showing up”. Don’t worry though. None of them are fatal. Instead, each one nudges us closer to the New World Order.
