In recent days, i have read blogs by Kevin Drum and listened to podcasts by Ezra Klein regarding the speed at which artificial intelligence is developing and i have to admit if i was 25 or 50 years younger I would be absolutely terrified of what will happen in the next 25 years.
Most of my generation will shuffle off the stage before 2050, but what kind of world will our children and grandchildren live in by that time. Drum is optimistic about the eventual blessings general AI will bestow on the human race, but even he envisions an interregnum of up to 100 years before the blessings are evenly distributed. In the meantime, the jobocolypse will reduce the living standards of the general population. But wait, won't the AI revolution, much like the industrial revolution create different jobs which we can't yet envision? No, says Drum. If AI can do anything a human can, it will also be able to do any new jobs created by its disruption.
Klein's musings on the speed of the AI revolution are truly terrifying. Extrapolating his belief that AI beings will tell us what they believe we want to hear will result in maximum profit taking with no regard for the bulk of humanity. it's the Sorcerer's Apprentice on steroids and it doesn't end well for us. We really have to count on luck to bail us out, since there seems to be no regulation envisioned for AI in the short or medium term.
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