ALGORITHM vs CONSCIOUSNESS
To a considerable extent, all modern humans are programmed to think, act, react, respond, identify with, dominate, grow, reflect, and debate in a type of way.
If you have seen the 1999 movie, “The Matrix,” you will understand what I am about to explain better. The battle of the future will be algorithm vs human consciousness as this was the theme of the movie when the hero, Neo, was offered a Red and a Blue pill to make the choice to be free or return to his old life that was controlled by the computer known as Matrix.
In this battle for freedom, it is hard at this point to say who will prevail because a larger portion of people is tilting towards technology that enables devices, concepts, and ideas for solutions than ever before, and whether you believe it or not, AI will give humanity a run for its money if it already hasn’t!
Despite our programming as humans through our upbringing, things such as shared knowledge, shared existence, community collection, acceptance and congruence, and relationships, the unique thing about humans are that we cannot ignore that it is the independence of thoughts, choices that shapes our existence and the fact that we can choose to take a break to relearn, unlearn, learn, innovate are habits to become better humans because it is stacked in our DNA.
We cannot be ignorant of the devices that are developed every day, and it is rather alarming that unconscious humans are losing the battle to Technology enable devices such as AI and Robotics (Tech that has more control over them than they do over Tech) and even I will admit that Technology has made life easier for us as humans.
I am absolutely mind-blown by the genius of AI, and the latest developments prove that they are not stopping anytime soon. I am anxious as to what it can achieve when it reaches its full potential. I strongly believe that Tech is a force for good if used properly and positively it will benefit everybody, skilled and unskilled, schooled and unschooled alike.
I think there are certain saltiness, basic tenets, and principles to being human that AI is yet to fully comprehend like emotional connection, touch, creative empathy, rationality, etc., that may not be possible to program into these AI-human machines no matter how human-version they may look or act.
AI is programmed to do repetitive work, so their predictability is a plus for some aspects, but that takes away the element of surprise that only humans can exhibit. They are also created to be user-friendly because they adapt to the user, and in doing this, they can adequately and effectively deliver on what they were created for.
While all of this may seem far off in a hypothetical scenario, it is vital to consider the ethical and legal implications that pushing the frontier of these innovations could cause or entail. We should begin to raise creative and complex questions around power dynamics, cultural frameworks, consent, personhood, and solutions must be developed to address these issues and questions if we want to create a saner clime for the next evolution of Tech.
Living and co-existence create an institution of growth where we learn tolerance, acceptance, confidence, companionship, friendship, and communalism which are all human traits.
