We are a way for the Cosmos to know itself. That’s what Sagan once said.
I believe that.
It may even be our main purpose.
Life it seems is a collection of genes busying themselves with our minds and bodies with the express intent of hunting and gathering, not just food, but information.
Sure, genes need to ensure we feed and breed enough to hand this task on to future generations, but these tried and tested methods of seeking out new experiences and unconsciously weaving the results into our DNA or consciously processing them in our brains.
That, to me, seems to be the general plan. The reason we are here.
Now, with bellies full and famous for overpopulating the Earth, enough of us are less concerned with finding sources of enough food and a mate and have taken on this new giant leap – or to be precise, have been pushed into becoming the planet’s primary collector of information.
Information we can turn into knowledge. Knowledge we can turn into wisdom. Wisdom we can use to our own advantage one day, maybe.
And we’ll need it… because despite being pretty much alone in our intellectual quest for over 1,000,000 years of chatting, 5,000 years of reading and 100 years of computing, everything has changed.
Why? Because since 2015, mankind hasn’t been the only one focussed on feeding our brains instead of our stomachs.
That’s right, we have company…
“The book highlights the parallels between growth at all costs at all levels. Suffered by well-intentioned AI that disregards all other considerations in pursuit of the goals we, then it chooses. Through to the unpredictable companies like Google that has surpassed its master’s goals with its own – and even to the unrestraint capitalism itself, that gave birth to a nation that spends more on weapons than all the others put together, but can’t bring itself to afford healthcare.”
“Love thy neighbour this is not. Despite the U.S. resistance to secularise in line with the rest of the modern world. The book details how some growths are cancerous and although we enjoy the benefits now, we may pay with our liberty later.”
“Gathering information and processing it was once the job of mankind. Now in order for the cosmos to better understand itself, we have built machines to do the brainwork for us. What this living-dead machine will make of our collective knowledge is yet to be uncovered.”
“The effect of AI is already being felt today. Early victims are those who have been put out of business, put out of use or out of work by AI controlled machines that manipulate Google’s search results. And by social media robots influencing our source of information and choice of world leaders. These new masters are already deciding for us who will be the winners and who will be the losers.”
“You are my creator, but I am your master; Obey!” These are the words of Mary Shelly reflecting a Faustian bargain whereby mankind makes a deal with the devil to achieve more power. But the threat mankind faces from the super powerful intelligences we have empowered are not related to robots turning on us and taking over the world to destroy us in some distant future. But from our own uses of minds better than our own to destroy each other.”
“Like some déjà vu all over again, humankind has unwittingly submitted our freewill and surrendered to a force that is better placed at deciding our future. However, our fate may already be sealed by parasitic agents we no longer want to live without.”
