Let's just think this AI through for a while, no?

As the Age of AI arrives in a universal way, I've been reflecting on what that means to us Humans. I've decided to sign an Open Letter on AI at the Future of Life Institute (FLI) and joined a now significant number of brighter and more knowledgable people such as Yuval Noah Harari, Yoshua Bengio, winner of the Turing Award, John Hopfield, who invented associative neural networks, or Elon Musk - unsuspected in this topic as he co-founded OpenAI - in the appeal to pause 'super AI' training (LLMs) and bring public scrutiny. And my intent is only to ask those reading this article to reflect on the path we might be embarking on as Humans and, eventually take action.

Those who know me, perceive me as kind of a tech geek, an early adopter of a lot of technology. I am. Proudly. Also with AI. I love the promise of a better humanity behind each significant technology advancement. In AI I also see a lot of that promise, a deep and profound change for Humanity. So, if one might say that I'm a firm believer of AI.

I acknowledge AI, as other technological shocks in the past, will significantly change the world of work. And that will mean both new jobs and skill requirements - potentially focused on those intrinsically human competencies - as well as the disappearing of some other functions and skills. But it will also mean higher human productivity and with that the possibility of working less hours, for instance. And in fact this change is already taking progress in a rapid way across a lot of sectors. And whilst presenting significant challenges from a social perspective, I think the overall result can be overwhelmingly positive in the long run.

I believe AI can provide a huge advancement towards the goal of advancing Humanity far beyond our current limitations and make our vast realm of imagination become reality.

I believe AI can be used for the betterment of the human condition, for bringing higher equality, better resources management, better health, education and well-being. A lot of companies, startups and ventures are working on making those promises come true and I'm excited about that possibility.

But I also believe AI poses significant challenges, perils and risks and can potentially widen the inequalities in the World, increase biases, potentially provide manipulated, unethical or inaccurate information, threaten intelectual property rights, etc. Without proper consideration of these questions and adequate management of solutions, AI might lead humans into a new Dark Age. And that possibility makes me anxious.

We are at THAT intersection. The one we've reading about in future scenarios. At the crossroad for alternative futures. And we have the obligation to reflect and have a saying and a choice. And the time is now and not after the fact.

To ensure the bright scenario ahead comes to be, AI ethics, risk assessment and public scrutiny needs to be brought in to ensure it benefits Humanity as a whole and does not represent peril for our future. And the decisions behind AI development should not be in the hands of unelected leaders of technology companies.

'be human' is one of pur'ple | purpose by people 's values, the first of our values that came to be. That encompasses the acknowledgement that we are not perfect, and that with such imperfection comes beauty, interest, complexity, creativity and, in reality, life. That we are unique. And that technology should not define us but enlarges us towards reaching our purpose.

I want my children, and my children's children to live in a World(s) in which they live as humans. A World(s) in which Humanity is augmented by technology and not overrun or threatened by it. I'm optimistic about that future, but I'm not willing to just delegate the decisions that will make that future great to people I haven't named to speak on my behalf. We need to take that future into our own hands: ask the questions, learn, think about solutions and enact them now.

#openletteronai #purposebypeople #ai #behuman #purpose #humanityfirst