As a business person, I’m interested in AI from an economic standpoint and its impact on society. The latest topic I’ve been thinking about is how AI could potentially destroy humanity in a worst-case scenario.
Personally, I have a positive attitude towards AI. I don’t believe it will destroy us. However, many intelligent people, like Elon Musk, believe AI could be a threat. So, I did some research to understand their concerns.
The main short-term threat I came across is AI replacing the human workforce. High unemployment, especially without a strong social safety net like the one in the US, can lead to social unrest. Since the rise of GPT-3 in November 2022, exciting AI news seems to emerge every month. As AI becomes smarter and more capable of performing human tasks, the future job market seems concerning.
The deeper I delve into this topic, the more convinced I am that the consequences may vary greatly depending on a country’s social system. Thankfully, my work as a consultant gave me the opportunity to speak at an AI gathering event last week.
I chose the doomsday topic, and my presentation title was “Kommt die KI-Apokalypse? – Es kommt drauf an wo” (Is the AI Apocalypse Coming? – It Depends Where). The topic captured the audience’s interest, and we had a great discussion afterward.
So, what was my conclusion? Where might the apocalypse happen first?
As you might have guessed, the US seems most vulnerable at present. American society is already deeply divided, with some even fearing an impending civil war. It’s already quite fragile, and a situation where major companies rapidly lay off large numbers of employees and replace them with AI wouldn’t take much to push it over the edge. This wouldn’t just affect low-skilled workers; it would also hit the middle class and highly educated professionals. Their fall would be devastating, unlike in Europe with its social safety nets. People who once earned six figures could end up homeless with no income to pay rent or mortgages. This could indeed shatter American society completely.
However, I don’t want to be another doomsday prophet predicting humanity’s extinction. As a Buddhist, I believe in impermanence and cyclical existence. However, I do hope humanity lasts long enough to explore new stars beyond Earth. I’m confident we’ll get there, perhaps in this reality or a parallel one.
Returning to our current situation with the rise of AI and the accompanying anxieties, what can we do? The answer is: adapt. Progress is inevitable and shouldn’t be stopped. The key is learning to deal with change and finding our place alongside AI in this world.
Personally, I’m grateful to witness the age of rising AI and quite excited to see what the future holds.