Second, AI is an energy hog. It is literally sucking electricity off the grid and increasing demand more than any other sector of the utility market -- even electric cars. The electrical demand of server farms and the infrastructure necessary to fuel the AI segment of technology threatens to steal our power away from other needs. Utilities are scrambling to put up small nuclear power generators, solar, and wind sources to keep up with this demand and some of those who are investing in this research are contracting for that demand as fast as it comes on line.
Third, AI is stealing talent away from the many other possible advances in technology and science. We are more and more borrowing our best talents and minds from other projects and putting them to work in an effort to lead instead of follow this trend. While that may be great for AI, it means that many other worthy avenues of discovery are being ignored or slowed down because we simply do not have the people with the skills to do everything.
Finally, AI is stealing our hope. We have heard artificial intelligence talked up so much we have invested too many of our hopes and dreams in the promise of a smart world which can leave us to our leisure and the pursuit of things entertaining. What need have we have religion or a savior if we think that code and devices can solve the riddles of all that is wrong and supply the answers to all our questions and take over all our work?
I have warned that AI may also be good at stealing our humanity as well as our jobs but these are not the only things that threaten our future under the guise of a promising technology. Who are we if we have no work or purpose? What will become of our idle minds and our idle hands? How will this corrupt us until we become the servants of those we designed and built to serve us? Religious questions abound on the nature of our humanity and the shape of our human identity going forward. This is, of course, on top of many other issues.
1 comment:
Interesting how AI came on the scene as digital progress increased more and more in a few short years, and now AI has taken a life of its’ own. What you have described about it is true. In a negative way, AI will not only destroy livelihoods, rendering many jobs obsolete, but it will suck up much of the world’s energy as well. This beast, my friends, is insatiable! Sure, we may see many positive outcomes in medicine and technology, but this system has far greater goals and aspirations. Creating a computer system to collect data and analyze information, and provide immediate results was never a bad thing in itself, but somehow human operators want to take it to higher levels. Many years ago, I was given a simple calculator by my employer. I could use it on the job when needed, and also use it at home, while managing my bank checkbooks or for everyday math. It seemed practical enough, but I did not entirely trust the calculator when I received a defective one that printed out numbers I knew were wrong. So I immediately used my grammar and high school math to figure out arithmetic problems the old fashioned way, and verified it with the calculator. I trusted the methodology of old arithmetic more than simply assuming that the calculator was always correct. To this day, I still do math in my head, and figure problems on paper, pen in hand. It doesn’t matter if it is fifty numbers or a hundred, I trust the manual methodology more. The calculator merely verifies it. On this point, let me add that some adults I know have used calculators and computers so long that they cannot solve fractions, subtract in their heads, figure basic math. They learned it in school, but reliance on machines caused their brains to shelve old math skills and store this knowledge in the dusty file rooms in the corners of their minds. Now they can’t even bring it back to their minds without a refresher. This is the direction of AI. It will rob one’s brain in the long run. For some, AI will not only rob them of their minds, but their souls as well. Soli Deo Gloria
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