My robot thinks for me, therefore I am?
Artificial Intelligence Scares Me
So, now we’re into artificial intelligence everywhere. People in my world are quite proud of themselves when they tell me that no longer ask Google (or Bing) for information but instead turn to one of the AI engines: Grok, Complexity, Gemini, et. al.
And it worries me.
Scares me, in fact.
Here’s why…
I think there’s a dream that goes along with the advent of such technology and that dream is of reduced work and increased leisure time. Soon, we will have robots from Tesla that will wander through our homes doing menial tasks, like “hey, robot man, make me a perfect cup of coffee and then bring it to me.”
We won’t even have to say “please.”
Fair enough. Who am I stand athwart of such progress?
Nevertheless, I think it’s a pipe dream wrapped inside of a nightmare.
Hear me out.
Man needs work. It defines who he is. Work is the yin to the yang of leisure time. Without work, leisure means nothing.
And I don’t think we handle the leisure time we have now! Just look at how people descend into drugs and alcohol.
AI is more properly understood as “generative” artificial intelligence (GAI). “Generative” in the sense that it will generate less for us to do.
There will be a hollowing out of people. A loss of identity, purpose, and importance. A feeling of worthlessness will be the result for those who incorporate GAI into their everyday life.
The majority of what the technology gurus are pitching to us now involves the “rosy future” of being relieved of your job, and of your agency as human being. Freewill itself may be in danger.
The gurus of AI encourage such a capitulation of the most basic decisions: what to write in an email, where to eat dinner, where to vacation, what bedtime story your daughter asked you to “make up,” what to wear, to make coffee, etc.
There is nothing in their pitch that suggests you will be a better person with this tech, be you a husband, girlfriend, writer, athlete, etc.
Their pitches are always focused on GAI doing all the basic things that essentially make you what you are.
This is to say nothing of the criminal reduction in learning that will follow. Learning not only enriches our lives but is essential for a person’s confidence. If we don’t have to learn – which is to say, if we don’t have to do anything – we will lose our humanity.
If you notice, the gurus are also trying to insist they are doing something spiritual, that GAI is a kind of “god.” Always there for you, giving you wisdom, giving you companionship, giving you “love.” In essence, a kind of fake god, an “antichrist.”
If you think people are depressed, anxious, or feeling a loss of purpose now, it’s nothing compared with how they’ll feel after they start letting GAI live their lives.
I see it now. Students who rely on AI to write their paper, for instance. They cannot be proud of what they’ve done. They just turn it in and go on to the next vapid response to an assignment.
I am worried.
