A lot of people are optimistic about what good can be done with artificial intelligence and probably a lot more people are scared of it.
I think that there are a lot of reasons to be scared of AI, if not for anything, for the simple fact that it's right on track to put humans out of jobs, something most people are never prepared for.
But I've found that so many base their fear on things like weaponization, surveillance and centralization of wealth and power.
These are all things that can be inserting in any argument of fear for AI, and it would be strong, but what I find interesting and disappointing is that the people holding onto these strong fears of AI, somehow believe that shutting it all down is the way to go.
There isn't any worse decision anyone can make!
I've never been a person to have personal quotes or sayings that I could call a favorite, but there's one that's really stuck, so much that I might have to admit to now have an in-fact, favorite quote.
"An armed society is a polite society."
This is a quote from Robert A. Heinlein, from his 1942 novel Beyond This Horizon.
It is very important that the world understands why AI is important. It being good or bad, doesn't really matter. Why it is important matters much more.
We are talking about technology that will improve health, above all other things, why should anyone not want to invest in it?
Several trillions of dollars are going to go towards building AI. At this point, it should be clear that money isn't very valuable, it's still just in place to keep things relatively stable. Maybe people forget that there was a time money didn't exist, but it would be worth remembering that money was introduced to improve trade relationships, solving conflicts and by extention, improve lives.
Why should anyone be surprised that at some point, money may not be of significant importance?
AI is too important to ignore. In case it wasn't already clear from the quote in this post, the reason it is important that all turn to it, learn it, invest in it, build it and with it, is because in a future powered by AI, you want to be armed with AI.
What the majority feel is good or bad about it doesn't matter because someone is always going to keep building it even if its developments were openly banned.
When tech companies and politicians from the United States talk about China and how they most win the AI race against them, it's because they understand that being armed with AI is what is important now.
In the same way, individuals need to understand that arming themselves early with AI is most important. The governments do not expect the majority to do this, but this is what will make the difference.
Worrying about what extent future surveillance will be at won't solve anything. Learning and building on the tech that could lead to the worst possible outcome on that grounds is what will.
AI is an important piece of our future, but it won't be our future if we're not armed with it!
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