I have been watching and listening in disbelief for years now how the world is spiraling out of control. It's not just small things here and there, it's now reached into the heart and soul of humanity and it's being embraced.
Yes, many posts have been written recently about the rise of the machines and how AI is here and we are staring into the not too distant future where we will more than likely fall subservient to it.
Oh yes, I hear that..."That's a fucking conspiracy theory and you're being paranoid" Hmmm but am I? Am I really?
I've always had a lot of respect for the defence forces around the world, wherever they are, it takes a certain personality, degree of honour, integrity and spirit – an ability to lay yourself to the ground prematurely, to risk your life to protect those behind you back home. That is not something that everyone has the mettle to do, especially not the snot-nosed brats that have an entitlement problem and don't know whether they are coming or going.
There's a long line of military history in my family, something that I am grateful for and proud of, however the wars of today are a different kettle of fish. I have recently learned that the US Airforce has given AI it's first taste of an F16 this last December. Unmanned. Not simulated. What could possibly go wrong?
Oh but wait, that's not all. They decided to ramp up the stakes and they simulated a dog fight for two. Ok, twelve. This was in conjunction with DARPA and a program called ACE (Air Combat Evolution) where they are developing mechanisms to integrate human and machine to "collaborate".
For those of you that don't know, I've just left a job where I simply couldn't handle being continually micromanaged by my "superior"...now how the actual fuck will a fighter pilot FEEL if they are forced to be subservient to an AI as their co-pilot? Do you honestly think it's going to be anything like KITT from Knight Rider? I doubt it. Why? What is the substance of a human that sets us aside from machines? Empathy? Compassion? Love? Fear? The ability to experience and express emotion? Our own humanity?
Interestingly, if you think of the book by Isaac Asimov that inspired the movie I Robot, there were tenets that robots could function under but they would never be able to continue existence if they broke those rules. However, these are not scientific laws at all and Asimov was a science fiction writer, so while they may sound plausible for a novel, they are too simple to navigate the complex conundrums that we/they may face. There isn't a simple set of rules and laws that you can magically type and create an algorithm to mimic and learn morality in a short period of time and this is where I think we are going so horribly wrong.
The DARPA agents who were observing these dogfight simulations involving this AI piloted F16 reported that they were concerned that the AI took risks that a person more than likely wouldn't take and that it seemed extremely aggressive in it's pursuit or while flying head on – "playing chicken" with the simulated adversaries. This is exactly what I would expect as the AI has no innately inherent fear or reservation about it's mission. It doesn't feel the blood pounding in it's head or the G-force exerted on it's extremities. It doesn't gasp for breath when doing a high velocity maneuver or have to swivel it's head to track the MIG that it's engaged with. It doesn't have a photo of it's wife, husband, daughter or son in the cockpit and know that it's purpose is for something greater than itself. It feels no empathy for those slain in battle or remorse for those wounded at it's own guns. It doesn't have nightmares at night after the battle is won or lost and it doesn't mourn it's dead brethren at their graves.
You know what the absolute saddest part of this is? We, the world – are embracing this cold, calculated, emotionless, heartless void now filled with ones and zeros, all spread out in a fashion that compute much faster than we do, with higher accuracy and at higher levels of efficiency. "Oh but they are so immensely helpful" Perhaps now they are. But they will make automation fill the positions that so many of us currently work at. Why hire a designer when you can use an AI program? Why hire a social media manager when you can use AI? Why have an army when you can have a defence force of drones? Why use traffic circles when you can have traffic lights? Why bother to drive your own car when AI can drive it for you? Why bother having Boeing pilots when the autopilot is apparently a lot safer?
But where does that leave us? A dull world where we lose our drive. We lose our focus. We lose our will to create. To invent. To makes art. To defend our loved ones. To be independent. To be free. To be alive???
AI has reached Hive, it's reached our schools, universities, military, governments, hospitals, travel and it won't be long when those who embraced it once may be sitting without a job, without a role and possibly with diminishing hope. Yes, it may sound dystopian...but what makes this world, OUR WORLD special is that we and many of the other living creatures we share the planet with have evolved through millenia to FEEL, to LOVE, to CREATE, to EXPRESS, to PROTECT. We will lose that if we hand over our humanity in exchange for the sake of convenience. Everything that has been packaged in the past as an easy solution to the world's problems has almost always come with some serious side effects and a high morality price tag. It's time we stop being so narrow minded and start really seeing the bigger picture and the repercussions down the line.
AI will ruin Hive. AI will ruin lives. Please don't let it happen!
It's up to each of us to stop it. If you see it, report it or downvote it. Don't support it. If we don't stop it, we have nobody to blame but ourselves for not stamping it out now.
