The end of humanity and the advancement of the machine

The debates on whether the AI will save or destroy humanity are one of the most current themes. Although it may seem a bit sensationalistic, it is not surprising that this theme has been a constant in science fiction since the 1950s, from Asimov to Yo Robot to Isaac Matrix of the Wachowski Sisters. If we think about it, it is the eternal human fear to a possible war on machines or against something superior.

The War with Machines: A Standard Recurring in Times of Technological and Social Change

If we look closely, we will see that the key moments in which the debate on war with the machines came up coincided with important social changes. In the 1950s, the design of cities and household appliances became radically, began to speak of the “future” world and, moreover, the machines had been employed in World War II to kill people.

The second moment occurred in the 90s, an iconic time in the history of humanity. The first domestic computers and the famous Internet emerged almost simultaneously, which transformed society in a radical way, moving from an analog reality to another digital, made of screens, cables and bits of information. In addition, the world was leaving the Cold War, a time characterized by the threat of nuclear weapons.

And we come to the third moment, which concerns us all current humans. We were living a global pandemic that led us to an intensive use of technology. In addition, the web3 arose, with crypto, metaverses and NFTs, and if that is little, are developing increasingly advanced AI. All this happens in a context of war between Russia and Ukraine, and a global tension between the West and the East to see who dominates the world market. Don't you think all of this resembles the previous moments?

The pattern was always the same: great technological and social changes, united with collective paranoia and the fear of a massive war, can awaken the darkest thoughts of man. And curiously, the machine has always played an important role in this scenario, which is logical, because we are not machines, but meat and bone beings. However, we know that our bodies have no possibility in a battle against machines made of metal pieces and cables. All this leads me to think if this is really our imminent future and if we are not creating our own perdition.

Change perspective

As creative that works with artificial intelligence and innovation, my perspective on this theme is different from that of a simple consumer, for example, it is not the same vision that has on a bread, a tambourine that a simple buyer. The world is based on optics and I have a different majority. My world, or optics, is governed by ideas and dreams, which allows me to abstract from reality and reach conclusions baked through the use of current patterns and conducts trying to predict the future. After all, creatives study social behavior to create new things that satisfy a social or business need.

The idea that AI will dominate the world has long existed as I mentioned earlier. However, with the advance of modern AI, many experts, scientists and entrepreneurs, among them perhaps the most famous: Elon Musk stated that it is necessary to pause the progress of AI, because it could seriously harm humanity.

This conversation led to the mind of many people the famous scene of a Terminator crushing a human skull while the robots invade the earth. But before we worry about this apocalyptic future, it is necessary to first understand what these experts refer to when they speak of “humanity”, and if this desolate future is really inevitable.

The dilemma of humanity: are we defined by our socioeconomic structure?

When these experts speak of “humanity”, they do not refer to humans in themselves, but to the social fabric we call humanity: our work, our education, our religious system and even our culture. They do not fear for the extinction of the human species, but for the socioeconomic structure that we have maintained since ancient times.

If we go back to the past, we'll see that the system has always been the same. The man advanced in intelligence and found better ways to get things. It was no longer necessary to fight for them, but money and work was created, almost as ancient concepts as humanity itself. But is this the true definition of humanity? Are we just hyper-smart symbols that have found a way to make monetary transactions by a resource or skill?

It is also equal to old man's ability to adapt. There is no climate or land that could not dominate. Our evolutionary intelligence not only allowed us to create a social system, but also ways to adapt to almost any environment or situation. Although it is true that the current situation is much more comfortable and easy than the one that existed 2000 years ago, because, for example, at that time, people were stuck to giant wooden crosses as punishment.

So if the human race is not in danger, what is our current society, the structure and fabric that we have created since the albores of humanity. But in turn, man has always been able to adapt to all the changes that occur, finding a way out that is the best for all.

Why are we afraid of this future that seems to be before us? The answer is logical. These changes are not minor, it is not an industrial revolution or internet growth. It is a total change in how the world in which we live is structured. It is a paradigm shift in every aspect we call our society today.

But is it not curious that these "experts" fear this change, if we look analytically sensed that they fear, their "expertis" comes from this current system in which we live, if this disappears, will continue to be experts? Probably, because they also see beyond all, and they see that the current world takes selfies and sends memes, while behind the scene, the system we know and create scales.

But... Is this the end of man? Maybe not, but it could be the end of man as we know him. For centuries, the human being had to study, prepare and work to subsist in society. However, if the AI could accomplish all these tasks, what would become of the human being? This possibility scares many, but it could also be an invitation to something bigger, like writing the next stage of the human being on Earth. A stage in which man ceases to be a "Homo Sapiens", a being of knowledge, to become a "Homo Sentient", a being of feeling.

The emergence of artificial intelligence: a future without human work

Let us imagine a future in which all works are made by AI, where children can learn in an instant thanks to AI the same as an adult, a world where humans experience the world in a totally different way thanks to machines and new technologies, and where AI has total control. A world where production is reduced by 70% drastic, because with AI, augmented reality lenses or chips on our heads, many things I know about produce today, would be digitally designed in the morning, clothes, objects, posters, plastics and many things more. This possibility of change frightens many because we do not know another way to deal with this world, because the system we have (or we had) was apparently perfect and worked perfectly, right? But in fact, the situation is very different.

A great example is Elon Musk, whom I personally admire, but who shows us the evil that is armed our system. Musk has more power than many countries together and has a huge wealth, while 40% of the world, if not more, fights day by day to have a plate of food on the table. We live in a world where you taught us that if we study, work and generate money, we will progress. However, suddenly you know a 17-year-old who didn't study anything, created an app, sold it for millions and now lives a life a thousand times better than yours. We live in a world where there are more people near poverty than wealth, and in which some fortunate people work because they like it while most people work because they have to pay bills. We live in a world that produces and exploits resources without measuring the consequences. Our system is not well.

This is because our system was always selfish by nature and was based on all "humans", but depended on every "human" as an individual being. As unfortunately we are an even primitive species, we do not collectively think and think as individuals, if we have to harm others to be better, we will do this, and if this is better is an unnecessary excess, we will do it. If we add that our time here is finite, more selfish we turn because we know that one day we will die. This is the reality in which we live, but the rise of AI does not allow this system to continue to exist, because AI, unlike ours, is not seen as a separate individual, nor needs to pay bills to live and has no such concept of “death”. Its evolutionary capacity is so high that it is seen as a single system, making it more perfect than we to create a new working system, one in which the human being is no longer needed.

The end of a primitive system and the beginning of a liberated humanity?

Is this our end? Although it cannot predict the future, history has shown us that we have always been able to adapt and find a way. The problem is that we now face an emptiness and we only have to jump on the other side. Personally, I think of a future where artificial intelligence and machines take charge of all work, allowing man to focus on living and enjoying life. Alan Watts used to say in a joke "that the trees do what the trees do, the cats do what cats do, but the man is busy paying bills and coming to the end of month." If we consider that everything in the cosmos is in perfect synchrony, that everything has a reason to be and that everything is part of the whole, that the molecules in our body are the same that are in the stars, this means that we are part of that whole. But is our purpose in life just to work and accumulate wealth? I doubt it's like this. Each being in this universe has a role, and ours is very particular: we can feel and we are aware of it. We are the sensitive part of this universe and perhaps we have removed some of this purpose due to the primitive system we created and embraced, but this system is tremendous and is about to collapse.

For this reason, humans are currently in an existential crisis, with stress, fear, insecurity, disparities and concerns. We do not naturally do what we should do, which is simply to exist and appreciate the beautiful of this life. Instead, we have created more complex meanings and forms of life, which, although they are just and allowed us to move forward, we have also met with a wall and moved away from our true cosmic purpose. This turbulent social reality that we live today is a manifestation of this problem.

Today we find ourselves in the former room of a social change as great as we have never seen before, but the problem is that these changes are not usually fast and many people will suffer in the process. I don't mean just the poorest, but also the very rich. Their system is falling and still have not found a solution to create a new system in which they can remain rich and the rest do not. However, this new system could free a humanity we have not yet known. As we saw in Marvel's last Dr. Strange movie, when the characters visit another dimension and grab food from the street without paying, an exclama "Are you not going to pay for it?" to what the other character says, "Pay? It is seen that its dimension is one of the most primitive where everything is based on a monetary value. »

The end of humanity as we know it approaches, but that doesn't mean it's a terror ending like what James Cameron raised in the '90s. We are in advance of what could be the next evolutionary step of humanity as a social structure: a world with free human beings and machines that do everything for us, a more just and less corrupt world. However, this change not only depends on some, but on all. Even you, who is reading this, can simply contribute by sharing this vision.

Personally, I want a future in which all human beings can enjoy, do whatever they want with their time and perhaps suffer less. A world where man's ability does not fall for his work, but for his quality of person, for his feeling, for his creativity, for his insight, for his innate beauty. This world does not yet exist, but today there are tools that could create, and although there are some who fear because “go to lose their work”, I try to offer a different look, and if losing this job is what totally frees you? An old story my father told me can illustrate this example:

" A teacher and his disciple were walking by a people when they decided to stop at a humble ranch and ask for shelter for a night. To what the family father explains that they are very poor, who only live from a cow who has tied in the courtyard, she gives them milk and with that they subsist. The teacher and his disciple retreat to sleep, the next day they march the way, but before leaving the teacher tells the disciple “I want you to go, take that cow and pull it through that cliff by killing it”, the atonite disciple answers “but master! It is all they have!”, the teacher explains that if he also wants to become a master someday, he should follow his orders and trust his criterion. The apprentice was sad, but he took the cow and threw it through the cliff.

Perhaps, losing our current work and systems makes us feel like this family and this apprentice, afraid that it will pass and how we will survive, but what if this system is what we are working on to advance to the next level as a human species, and if AI is the teacher who with its greatest knowledge comes to free us?

Can the world change, just depends on us and dreaming, do you encourage to dream of me?