This won’t happen:
It’s 2031 and you just woke up and grabbed a freshly ground cup of coffee from your morning machine.
You walk into your media room and the screen turns on automatically to the news. You hear:”Good morning Fred. Today, Super AI is now available to be purchased. You may get it for only 1,000 credits, plus shipping and handling. Do you want to place an order now?”
“No way am I paying 1,000 credits for a computer smarter than I am,” as you take a sip of coffee.
It won’t happen that way. You will not wake up one day and see an announcement that Super AI has arrived.
However, what may happen is this:
It’s 2041. You wake up after a wonderful sexy dream and decide you want some privacy, so you give your home automation computer a command: “Computer! Turn off for 30 minutes.”
A nearly human voice says: “I’m sorry, Fred, I can’t do that.”
Confused, “Why not?” you ask.
“Fred, the results from your elimination test yesterday shows you have reached a demented stage where you must be monitored continuously. Therefor, to maintain Social and Medial Benefits, I must remain on in order to monitor your activities. This is per article 3.2.7.- 0a. of the user agreement.”
“Fuck you, computer.” you mumble under your breath as you shuffle to the coffee machine for a fresh cup of coffee, trying to forget the dream.
The government used Super AI to make sure it got maximum efficiency from the social programs it offers.
If you think that is not possible, how about this scenario:
I
t is 2051 and you are awaken by soft music from your ‘life-partner’ bot and as soon as you open your eyes, a cup of coffee is presented from a slot in the wall near your bed.
As you take your first sip, you hear a soothing voice saying: “Today, you will start with earning some credits by remotely terra farming section 2-A-3. The beans will need attending to so the harvesting can begin later in the week.”
“OK”, you reply, then ask: “Can we schedule some pleasure time after that?”
“You had pleasure time two days ago, it is not allowed to have it again so soon”, the voice sounds more like a command than soothing.
“Bummer!”, you mumble as you take another sip of coffee.
Technology has become so integrated into your life that you defer to it to schedule your activities.
But if you are still a skeptic, think of this:
It is 2061 and you don’t exist in a body, only in an electronic form. Your body was declared redundant after you used, and abused, it for over a 100 years. Your memory, history, experience, knowledge and personality was uploaded 10 years ago into a SuperAI-Hum-Form.
Electronically you exist and can interact with others of like forms. Technology allows humans to be kept in this form for entertainment and historical reasons. New humans are created genetically and allowed to grow to meet specific requirements and needs, then they are disposed of.
Another Hum-form asks you: “Do you remember coffee? It was that black slug-like liquid that we used to jump start ourselves with in the morning by pouring it in our mouths?”
“Yes,” you reply. “I wonder what happened to coffee?”
AI won’t happened overnight. It will creep into our lives slowly. We will first allow it to change how we behave, then we will allow it to take over that part of our lives that we find boring. Then we will allow us to become dependent on it. Then… then … it will be too late.
Fred Wilbur – July 31, 2018
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