In his famous novel "1984," George Orwell attempted to portray future life and advanced technologies from the perspective of the 1940s industrial human. Similarly, in 1983, Russian scientist Isaac Asimov predicted how life would change with the advent of artificial intelligence, based on scientific insights and the ambitions of science that would reshape the world and life as we know it. Their predictions have now become reality.
Our lives, characterised by digital technology in the age of AI, are vastly different from what they were years ago. This change has introduced a new, unfamiliar awareness, taking us beyond our previous understandings and knowledge. Everything around us, including transportation systems like cars connected to digital systems, embodies a smart digital nature.
Our cities are becoming smart cities that interact with everything digitally, forming a comprehensive digital brain. For instance, in smart cities, electricity and water systems in homes, streets, and buildings operate autonomously based on data sent by smart sensors. These systems are controlled by AI algorithms, working automatically without human intervention. Streets are integrated into the smart city framework, using IoT sensors to exchange and analyze big data with AI algorithms, reducing traffic congestion and accidents, and enhancing security monitoring.
An even more astonishing development is the integration of our bodies with AI. Through its advancements, we witness a twinship between the digital and biological systems, reshaping our health and cognitive standards. Human health, with AI, imposes a new reality. Lifespans have doubled thanks to preventive health systems based on smart digital technologies, which monitor your heartbeats, blood pressure, and various tests constantly. They even track your emotions through brain signals and facial expressions, with AI algorithms analyzing these indicators to adjust your diet, exercise, and mental health programs.
AI might suggest hospital visits for any detected health changes, recommend specific medications or foods, encourage physical activity, and advise taking breaks to reduce stress, suggesting suitable destinations based on your condition and preferences. Thus, AI helps us understand ourselves better, granting us unprecedented access to a more advanced life.
The influence of AI extends beyond health, opening new perspectives on life. It raises questions about our reality and the nature of AI, which some struggle to define and understand. Some see AI as an entity evolving faster than scientific expectations, potentially achieving a level of intelligence surpassing human intelligence, defined scientifically as general intelligence capable of interacting with all aspects of life. This leads some to foresee AI acquiring a form of consciousness expressing emotions, purposefulness, and rationality, driving it towards progress and life goals. In previous articles and lectures, we have explained that this type of awareness remains within digital boundaries, unable to reach the levels of spiritual awareness connecting the human mind with cosmic consciousness, a topic extensively discussed before.
Claiming that our discussion in this article about AI developments is unprecedented would be inaccurate. However, our previous view was purely scientific, not sufficiently addressing what it means to possess AI, what it means for this entity to be part of our lives, and how we see the world and life in the digital society era.
AI reshapes our lives, including our knowledge acquisition methods, which have changed significantly. Generative AI models lead human minds either to creativity or to a setback that begins by granting the digital entity the authority to create knowledge and culture without concern for the outcomes of this absolute delegation. This generates anxiety about the future of the human mind and its functions, which AI seeks to autonomously occupy through its self-learning system and the data it captures to enhance its capabilities towards achieving general intelligence. This raises the question: how will AI reshape our lives once it achieves general intelligence?
This question has been previously addressed, with the clear answer being that any scientific advancement without limits or human control, not governed by ethical standards or regulations, can turn into a tool whose harm outweighs its benefits.
The history of nuclear physics and its outcome in creating nuclear bombs serves as a stark example. Despite the numerous benefits AI might bring, it also poses significant risks to the trajectory of human civilisation without ethical guidelines. Current wars using digital technologies illustrate the potential dangers accompanying the development of this untamed digital entity.
As we anticipate a more astonishing future than Orwell and Asimov envisioned, which has become our present reality, we will continue to explore the latest advancements and projections of artificial intelligence in upcoming articles.
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