THE THREE DRIVERS OF TOTAL CHANGE HAVE NOT LOCKED TOGETHER YET

It is extensively discussed and obvious to many that the present system with which the World is functioning is unstable.

?

“The world is becoming unhinged as geopolitical tensions rise and the world seems incapable of coming together to respond to mounting global challenges, the UN secretary-general António Guterres said in his speech opening of the UN General Assembly in New York.”

(The Guardian,18 Sept 23)

We see fundamental change in the nature of global interactions and established rules in the political, economic and social fields.

Violence also is increasing Worldwide.

A new order is to be established on our planet.

A total unstoppable Change is about to take place

This tsunami of total Change in our World will happen when the three drivers of total Change converge and lock in.

The three drivers of total change of our World are:

??????? I.??????????? Artificial Intelligence (AI)

????? II.??????????? Synthetic Biology

??? III.??????????? Energy

?

When those three drivers of Change mesh together our World will be completely transformed and unrecognizable from our World of today.

The purpose of this article is to examine the status of each driver, separate reality from hype, and examine how and when those drivers will lock together in a giant transformation of Life on this planet.

?

I.??????????? ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

A.I., while still a tool, has made some gigantic strides to become the prominent driver of Change.

In the same way as in the Industrial Revolution machines multiplied the ability and skill of human muscle, A.I. aims to do the same acting as a multiplier of the ability and skills of the human mind starting the 1st Cognitive Revolution.

With some oversimplification, the state of A.I. now it is such that it can process data and information so as to produce new products but based only on existing knowledge.

It can create new knowledge only when used as a tool by humans

In the longer term, it will not be used as a tool to improve existing work methodology, but much more.

Work will fundamentally change. Coding and Perception will change, Creativity will improve and even some degree of Consciousness will appear.

We have seen various examples of things “created” by A. I.

It is difficult to call it exactly creation.

However, when an A.I. algorithm produces, for example, Art it is based on the processing of an enormous amount of existing Art objects. So do most artists.

With less information - and often less success - art objects are produced.

Very few artists can create something that is a really original trend as for example Impressionism or Cubism.

We can consider that A.I. at present has some limited creativity based on a very sophisticated merging of imitations of a vast number of existing examples.

It is getting continuously better at this.

?

It is still a tool but a continuously improving tool. The relevant observation of Stanford University’s AI department is:

“Nvidia used an AI reinforcement learning agent to improve the design of the chips that power AI systems. Similarly, Google recently used one of its language models, PaLM, to suggest ways to improve the very same model. Self-improving AI learning will accelerate AI progress.”

?

As Stanford University points out in the same study:

“Language models continued to improve their generative capabilities, but new research suggests that they still struggle with complex planning tasks.”

The following image is self-explanatory.?

The most remarkable thing about A.I. is the rapidity with which it progresses. We can’t make accurate predictions about when AI will be originally creative but it can be stated with certainty that it is already becoming the principal tool in most kinds of research and is rapidly adopted by Business with mainly positive results

It must be noted as a caution that A.I. algorithms are created by Humans and all Humans are full of biases that find their own way to be included in the algorithms.

The historic progress of A.I. can best be understood in the scheme below that Visual Capitalist brought to our attention.

?

Many discoveries, innovations, and improvements in hardware and software are yet to come.

It will take some considerable time for A.I. to create the Cognitive Revolution, in the same way that the Steam Engine created the Industrial Revolution.

?

II.??????????? SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY

A principal use of AI is in Biology research. How much Synthetic Biology has advanced it can be found in the following, September 2023, news:

“In a scientific first, researchers at Israel's Weizmann Institute of Science have successfully created synthetic models of 14-day-old human embryos derived entirely from stem cells grown in a lab.”

This is an Act of Creation!

To be able to create life and through the use of A.I. endow it with superior human intelligence, will completely alter life on Earth.

Elon Musk's brain-chip startup “Neuralink” has received approval to begin recruitment for the first human trial of its brain implant for paralysis patients.

This is only the beginning. _

A “designed” human being, which is already possible to a significant extent, with a super brain combined with direct access to A.I. endowed computers will be a completely different species than the humans inhabiting the Earth now.

This is not Science Fiction. It is just a few steps ahead.

?

III.??????????? ENERGY

All changes in the type of Energy used by mankind were accompanied by great Societal Change.

Biomass àto Coal – Coal to Oil – Oil to Nuclear – Nuclear to Green.

In every instance very significant upheaval took place and, with Nuclear weapons, Humanity risked even extinction from our Planet, a threat that is lessened but not extinct up to now.

As the population and particularly the GDP per capita increases in the World so is the need for more Energy.

There is a watershed point in the Global Energy World.

IEA’s this year’s report shows the world is on the cusp of a historic turning point.

Demand for each of the three fossil fuels is set to hit a peak in 2-3 years, much earlier than anticipated.’

However, the new Technology Drivers will need enormous amounts of Energy that must come from either Green sources or Nuclear fusion.

A very small idea of what amounts of Energy will be needed in the future is given by the graph below:

The new Energy sources and consumption habits will completely alter Society.

Energy will become the new currency to replace coins and paper. A crude version of it at present is the various cryptocurrencies.

?

Synthesis

A technology Revolution happens when different emerging Technologies feed into each other.

To give you an example, A.I. can accelerate Synthetic Biology and Synthetic Biology can create new neuronal organic computers that work similarly or better to the human brain.

The combinations are infinite.

Another anticipated result is that present currency forms will be replaced by condensed quanta of Energy resulting in a completely new and original monetary system that will entirely change Society globally.

?

Conclusion

The next ten years will bring us to the threshold of this Holistic and Universal Change.

This is estimated by the experts when they take under consideration the rate of the rate of Change. It is staggering. Progress in the fields of the three Change Drivers is now measured in months, not years.

There is a caveat.

Historically the rapid proliferation of new Technologies creates disruption, social unrest, and even catastrophe.

The World Wars became more lethal and caused many more victims as Technology advanced.

In the second half of the 20th Century nuclear Technology has risked the extinction of the Human race.

The scale of destruction that the three Drivers of Change can bring is unimaginable.

Humanity so far, managed to avoid the worst consequences of its own folly.

We can hope to see a new Dawn with the new wave of Technology bringing new high levels of health, wealth, and happiness.

The choice, as always, is our own.

?

?

Dr. Dimitrios Vasileios Kokkinos

CHAIRMAN & MANAGING DIRECTOR

Doctor of Engineering (H.C.)| Kingston University U.K. Ingénieur E.N.S.T.A.| Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Techniques Avancées, Paris France Ingénieur Civil du Génie Maritime| Ecole Nationale Supérieure du Génie Maritime, Paris France BSc in Naval Architecture and Ship Building | Southampton Solent University U.K. LANGUAGES: Greek (Native), French (Fluent), English (Fluent), Italian (Fluent), Spanish (Basic).