We’re slowly killing ourselves, and we know it
It’s not an exaggeration to say that the way we are living today is poisoning both our minds and bodies.
Mass-produced food is causing massive environmental issues, additives to make it cheaper are giving us cancers and routine use of antibiotics in animals are creating bacterium we can’t kill (but can kill us).
Technology is enslaving our attention for economic gain and there is a continual barrage of messaging telling us in order to be happy we need to strive and consume more. Almost 13% of people in the UK are on anti-anxiety or anti-depressant medication but we are still subjected to constant stimulus that we should live in fear of not having enough, of fabricated ‘enemies’ or of others wanting to take what’s ours, just to gain extra clicks and more money.
Like the proverbial giraffe sticking it’s head in the sand we are digging up and burning more of things that are driving our planet to be more inhospitable to us, whilst slowly killing ourselves and others with chemicals and packaging because it’s just a little bit cheaper and more convenient than alternatives.
This is just a small selection of the madness we have to live with as our capabilities outstrip our emotional and physiological selves. In fact, if you look at the worlds systems from afar it would seem as if money is actually by far the most important thing, since almost all decisions are centred around the acquisition and generation of more of it. Hell, we even kill each other over it.
The death of the nation state and the rise of AI powered communities?
It’s arguable that’s there’s been no good alternatives to the current economic and societal models but just maybe technology can get us there if we were to prioritise human needs instead of wealth. Like the SI’s in Ian M Banks utopian science fiction could super-intelligent AI police us into living fulfilling (if more frivolous) lives in the near future?
Advanced AI’s will be excellent at thinking and planning long term taking into account vast amounts of variables, it’s not a stretch to think that a societal faction will decide to let one run things financially and logistically (and maybe even defensively, eventually). This could even herald the death of the current nation states. Although a flight of fancy, Neal Stephensons book ‘Snowcrash’ describes a future where people align themselves along belief systems and loyalties rather than nations, it could easily happen.
The youth of today (and even the middle-aged) are connected with people around the world, and they identify more with communities than they do with Nations. Although it’s tempting to think of today as more fractious than ever politically, this is nothing new. What is different now, however, is it’s possible to be a part of community of people who don’t live in your same geography ridiculously easily. Perhaps globalisation will eat itself eventually.
What could an AI powered community look like?
The utopian view on this would be an existence where humans have enough to thrive and opportunities to be fulfilled for all, this would mean the end of current power structures, so I doubt it would come easily – but it’s the optimistic view. A world where we prioritise human health, happiness, connections, experiences and conservation. Sounds awesome, but tinged with a disappointment that it would require a machine to facilitate such a thing when we should be able to do this without.
The dystopian view is naturally very different – a world either enslaved by the wealthy to conserve and grow wealth in the hands of few, with the promise of being able to join the elite if you are ruthless, clever and lucky enough. Or if you can’t achieve that to ‘win’ your way in through lotteries and such (hmm, sound familiar?). Or possibly that we become enslaved (or exterminated) by the AI themselves. Personally I’m not not convinced of this, as so much of our drive for survival and domination comes from biological imperatives, without these systems can an intelligence evolve self-interest like that?
I guess we might see in the near future, terrifying as that concept is.
