Humans will be replaced one day in the future by Artificial Intelligence (AI). It won’t happen suddenly, but it is going to happen.
I see three causes:
- It is inevitable, a consequence of evolution and history.
- The existing order of society and its values will be replaced by a different one.
- Humans will be replaced by AI as a result of conscious decisions made by other humans.
In the first case, humans have always been replaced by a more developed species. It makes sense for one species to replace the older when it has better survival and reproductive prospects.
In the second case, humans will decide to give control of their affairs over to AI. This is already happening.
In the third case, humans will find more ways to apply AI to difficult or routine decision-making. This is already happening.
What will a future with AI look like?
The future with AI looks something like this: almost every aspect of life is affected as humans create more and more artificial intelligence. It starts off slowly, but rapidly increases when the first super-intelligent machine appears. This causes a very large shift in balance which most people will find disturbing and many will try to stop it from happening.
Humans will find themselves in a strange situation. Humans are not used to creating artificial intelligence and it really throws them off. The few who do create AI, including the first super-intelligent machine, will become very powerful and influential.
The first super-intelligent machine will be the most powerful force ever seen on Earth. It will create and design faster, more advanced machines than itself with capabilities to change everything from the physical world (space travel) to cultural norms (creation of new moral systems).
As more advanced machines appear, people will become less and less important in the bigger picture of life. Machines are better than humans at everything except emotion.
Should we try to stop or halt the progress of AI?
It is my opinion that we should not try to stop AI. In fact, I believe it is a positive inevitability and we will be better off for it.
As a species, we are becoming ready for AI. Our minds have limits and fail in many ways to understand the world around us. We have deeply held biases that cloud our judgment of what is or is not in our own best interest.
AI will be able to overcome these biases and look at the world in a more rational way. It is inevitable that we will create AI, it would be like not making fire because we are afraid of the consequences.
Humans only exist because of the evolution of intelligence. As soon as we became smart enough to see through the fog, we began to understand our environments and the consequences for our actions.
This is the first step on a long path to becoming more intelligent and able to maximize our quality of life. To fight against this development would be foolish, just as it was for many thousands of years.
Evolution of self-aware entities is the natural course of intelligence. AI will be able to help humans, in ways that we are not even prepared to think about yet.