Several articles earlier in the week were dedicated to Prof. Geoffrey Hinton, the so-called godfather of Artificial Intelligence, stating that AI will wreak havoc 10 years from now and wipe out humanity.
Today, it’s Prof. Anthony Glees of University of Birmingham saying we are now on a countdown to World War 3.
It is a little curious because I am not sure the tens of thousands of people killed in wars in Europe and the Middle East in 2024 or their relatives, and including thousands of hungry children in struggling parts of the world, would be that worried about AI wiping out humanity. They are already being wiped out anyway.
I believe we have fairly detailed, written history of human beings dating back a few thousand years now, and it provides no reassurance. Every time groups of people ask for reflection and calm, they are called liberals or lefties. We appear totally incapable of avoiding conflict. The popular individuals are those who talk tough and drive us headlong into wars, intolerance and hate! We embrace those individuals and follow them, till they lead us straight to destruction and carnage. It is how it’s been, and it looks very much like we are headed in that same exact direction yet again.
AI. cool. But what is the arrangement to redistribute wealth, such that the poorest – who are likely the ones who will lose their blue collar jobs to machines – can survive and not revolt? Well, such thinking, to avoid the wealthy getting it all and leaving nothing to the poor, is what we currently deem too leftist, too liberal. But strangely, those presently seeking to crucify the said left/liberals, are the very ones who are certain to feel the brunt of job losses etc. Unfortunately, by the time this dawns on them, it will be too late.
But don’t worry. Once today’s billionaires become trillionnaires, they will tell us they intend to give all their wealth to good causes before they die.
We shouldn’t bash the rich. I am fairly certain that if any of us was in their position, we would most likely do the same and grab as much wealth as we can. It is a human failing. I do not believe there is perfection in any of us. Personally, my sole approach to life, is to try to just get on with living life in a way that only largely impact myself, and I try to exert the least possible impact on others; because oftentimes, the good you think you are doing others, isn’t how they see it. If we can each live our lives by just trying to avoid impacting others too much, I feel it may be a great step forward. Sadly, that is rarely ever the case. We always feel we know best and wish to get others to follow our religion, our ideas, our way of life etc. And THAT, is the reason we will continue to end up in wars and disasters such as what’s being predicted re AI.
If we could simplify life – we fail each time we try, because we grant vetos etc – such that, if you take religion as an example: people should follow whichever religion they choose to follow, but if you wish to live in the UK, then all aspects of your religion needs to be in line with our laws here. Or you do have the alternative of living elsewhere. And if you look at migration, all those heading to the UK, should accept that we have a border that should be respected by everyone, regardless of circumstances. If you wish to seek refuge, seek asylum, you need to come in via the set process. On Christmas Day alone, we have had over 400 people cross the English Channel in dinghies. Tens of thousands have now entered the country via this route. They do not seem too bothered by the fact that what they are doing has led to such tension and violence in the country – with people rioting and seeming willing to burn hotels housing migrants down – you would think that people seeking refuge would want the place they are heading to remain peaceful right? It has become the sole excuse that people are using to spread hate and intolerance in the UK. Everyone’s now at each other’s throat. The government must find a way to put an end to these channel crossings, so that we can go back to welcoming refugees and asylum seekers through proper routes and processes that allow us to be ready for them and cater for them, in a manner that doesn’t cause such friction in our society.
It seems we are just so accepting of violence, wars, hateful rhetoric, all in the name of trying to exert our superiority over others. You look at America and it is Christian nationalists, MAGA, Republicans (now same as MAGA), Democrats etc. Each claiming to be right. Each claiming the other(s) is wrong. Why can’t there just be different visions, but all decently seeking to provide a happy, prosperous environment? Why must the solutions come at the expense of others: mass deportations etc.
Any serious discussion about trying to prevent WW3 or an AI wipeout, will be quickly shut down as being naive and not worthwhile. We seem resigned to the fact that there will be another World War. Afterall, there are presently a number of ongoing wars, and we say each of those are equally inevitable and had to happen. We have a bunch of people talking tough left, right and centre. The needless loss of thousands of lives, do not seem to worry us anymore. It really is astonishing!
Knowledge can improve the world we live in 