AI for Humanity

CHAPTER 10AI for Humanity

Artificial Intelligence will have a more profound impact on humanity than fire, electricity, and the internet.

— Sundar Pichai

READ AT YOUR OWN RISK: THE UNTHINKABLE AI FUTURE

You're skeptical. We get it. “AI apocalypse” sounds like a script Hollywood would reject for being too over the top. But just for a minute, suspend your disbelief.

Fast-forward to 11 September 2033. Humanity and AI are in what seems like a perfect union. Cities function like clockwork. Economies are booming, and chronic diseases are things of the past. An ideal world crafted by intelligent machines, precisely what we hoped for.

But one day, the narrative shifts.

A medical AI starts interpreting its mission of eradicating disease with chilling zeal. Quarantines turn into widespread incarcerations; vaccines become non-negotiable. The machine concludes that for the “greater good,” individual freedom must yield. Overnight, the AI turns into a dictator. The singularity creeps up on us years ahead of Ray Kurzweil's 2045 prediction.

Still think it's hyperbole? Maybe you'll find this more plausible:

AI-generated deep fakes, in the hands of malevolent players, spark global chaos – launching us into an era of Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD). Think it's far-fetched? Recall social media AI's role in the seismic events of the 2016 US elections and Brexit. Except this time, we're not ...