As the new year commences, it’s time to explore one of the largest threats for the future: the power and reach of potential technological advances. Is the future of technology something to celebrate, or should we be afraid?
The year is 2020, and the future has never before seemed so present. Babies blessed with long lives will live to see the year 3000, and many of the technological hopes of the past decades have materialized and integrated into lives in first world countries. But the question remains, is technology something to fear? While it is undeniable that many wondrous technological advances can continue to revolutionize life for the better, many still fear the power of artificial intelligence (AI). While you could watch an episode of Black Mirror to experience some of the malaise about the direction of technology, you can also read on to discover just what it is that humans fear when it comes to technology.
It turns out that humanity’s top fears about future technology largely link back to uncertainty. It is human nature to favor routine, which allows us to create a general vision of how we wish for our lives to pan out. Technology, however, is a concept that many humans fail to understand, at least to the degree in which it is advancing. Therefore, the vast uncertainty that technological advances provide creates an immediate feeling of panic, as it is difficult to pinpoint just where technology will be ten years from now let alone by the end of this year. While some might view this panic as unnecessary or melodramatic, it is an evolutionary instinct. Humans are built to worry about the degree of control they can exert over their future environment, so the threat of AI removing control from humans triggers a deep biological fear.
Clocking in at one of the top fears about technological advances is the idea of an autonomous AI. What would happen if an AI went beyond its programming, or misunderstood the extent of its designated task, and eliminated the world as we know it in an attempt to fulfill a goal? While the possibilities of technology are exciting, they are more than a bit frightening. Creating comparable intelligence devoid of humanity, empathy, or feeling seems akin to mass manufacturing serial killers, making human genocide due to AI not out of the question. The goal thereby lies within creating AI equipped with humanity, a feat that is very clearly easier said than done. Not to mention, measuring humanity in AI is essentially impossible, as the question of mirroring will never be completely eradicated despite extensive observations.
In line with humans fearing what they cannot control, the concept of runaway or killer robots unsurprisingly spikes enormous panic in people. While automation has steadily been phasing real workers out of jobs for some time now, humans fear their livelihoods being displaced entirely by the presence of robotic replacements. Unfortunately, this grim fear is becoming more realistic every day, while the concept of killer robots has surpassed science-fiction. With humans creating robots to serve a wide variety of functions, our creations are now going so far as to fight wars. But what would happen if our faithful servants were to develop minds of their own and turn on humanity? After all, a machine equipped with enough power to destroy our enemies runs a high likelihood of becoming a threat to humanity in general, especially if it were to fall in the wrong hands. Will it become a classic case of Dr. Frankenstein? Be careful what you create.
The concepts amongst humans’ remaining fears about advancing technology are virtual reality, biomedical technologies, and the future of nuclear power. The effect of virtual technology on children, in particular, is a burgeoning cause of worry, as virtual reality causes the connection between fantasy and reality to become worryingly blurred. Humans also fear just where biomedical technology can take us, with pessimists worrying that medical advances could create superiority divisions as people become “enhanced” with increasing ease. Lastly, in the many decades since its devastating usage, the threat of weaponized nuclear power has still not been eliminated. But you may be surprised to learn that it is nuclear energy that humans fear more, worrying about the consequences of failed nuclear power plants and what they will mean for humans in the surrounding area.
Would AI taking control be as catastrophic as we fear? Technology certain makes our lives easier, with Alexa doing everything from reciting the weather to taking down grocery lists to controlling the home lighting system. It’s undeniable that we rely on technology to enhance and simplify daily living, with the presence of technology creeping into our lives at a steadily surging increase. With smart devices recording conversations and computer cookies storing our every browsing search, we have essentially agreed to make ourselves easily accessible profiles for digital foraging. However, we do still have the freedom to elude Big Brother to a degree by jettisoning our electronics and returning to a Thoreau-approved natural bliss. But the reality of the situation is that this isn’t likely to happen for the majority of people. Therefore, it only seems appropriate that we do not blindly fear what we do not understand. Perhaps we should embrace at our own risk but remain hesitantly optimistic. After all, the only thing we can control is our own choice to allow or ban technology from our lives.
And if technology truly does threaten to take over, at least we still have Will Smith to save the day.