If robots can do all the work, the inevitability of socialism would undoubtedly drop. The wool over our eyes would be pulled back. No person would have the heap of excuses for not accomplishing anything any longer. After all, and some minds were intelligent enough to figure this out before, eventually no person would have to work, and there would be no reason to make them do so. That's socialism, unless we don't plan on feeding the people when we have no reason to refuse. Business? What business? I have no need for money, because I'm taken care of by robots of human invention. Socialism. Sorry to break it to you, but it's not as evil as we all thought, especially when everyone is cared for like a rich baby.
The space race would be the joke of the last era if we had AI. It would be the Earth space project, and we would be star trekking in no time. After all, Jesus said, "It is less likely for a rich man to make it to Heaven, than for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle." The problem? What would this AI think about us? Are we worth keeping around? What sort of conscience would it have?
Perhaps it's time for a rewind, because I sense you are laughing. The Independent ran an op-ed Sunday containing some of the concerns of famed physicist Stephen Hawking, one of few brave enough to take on Einstein. Stephen Hawking's concerns over the future advancements in AI probably came as a surprise to most, as the common consensus is that nonliving material cannot manifest a soul and cannot thereby be animated in the sense that a living being can be. "Success in creating AI would be the biggest event in human history," Hawking wrote. "Unfortunately, it might also be the last."
Hawking outlined the progress in robotics to date—robotically-driven vehicles, digital personal assistance, all the information we could ever need at our fingertips almost anywhere. People don't even need to pick up maps anymore. We are currently in the beginning stages of building our own science fiction setting. Hawking's issue? Is the Earth rapidly becoming the sort of sci-fi blockbuster we want to take part in, i.e., Human victims similar to those in The Matrix?
Will we soon be living sci-fi? In other words, will sci-fi be known as science fact? There is no shortage of financing for AI start-ups. The ever-crushing titan that is Google is at the helm and with such competition, other companies will not be short with ideas to squeeze in next to the beast. It's a fact that has Hawking saying,"All of us should ask ourselves what we can do now to improve the chances of reaping the benefits and avoiding the risks."
Regarding the common consensus of people concerning robots and conscience: coursing through the human body is a combination of earthly metals, soil nutrients, and a powerhouse that turns mass into fuel. It's no less likely for a man-made earthly contraption to be intelligent and capable of independent thinking than for an environmentally manufactured biological contraption. Perhaps we should be asking this: is Hawking correct? We all know it is in our nature to rush to the next level. We are still the tots outside who pick up something icky and stick it in our mouths. Too bad our mommies aren't trying to stop us. Tell me what you think downstairs.
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