IMAGINE a planet, dominated by artificially crafted creatures roaming around everywhere — at sea, on the land and in the sky. Also, fancy that there is the presence of minor creatures such as birds, grasses and trees. There are waves at sea, roaring with surges of swirling water but none to hear and wonder at the wonders of nature. There are birds chirping in the trees but none to vent an ear to their varied, sweet tones.
Nobody in this high-tech land stands for a while at the roadside to enjoy the view of the rising sun and to appreciate the sparkling dewdrops hanging on the edge of the blades of grass. Neither does anybody cry or laugh nor does anyone sigh in grief of anything. The description offers a glimpse of the oft-coveted world of artificial intelligence technology-driven humanoid robots of the near future to which we, the humans, are heading fast.
Artificially crafted objects shaped like humans to do specific tasks in different fields such as automotive industry production lines, restaurants, pharmaceutical plants, etc are now in use globally. The extent varies though mainly because of lack of resources, financial and technical. Big guns in tech companies in this line are in a hurry to vie with each other for more profit, more media exposure and more investment and profits. It is a never-ending cycle.
Moreover, a newer dimension is added to the ongoing show by tech giant such as Elon Musk through his company Neuralink’s recently implanting of wireless brain-computer interface device in a human brain, with an aim to intercept and regulate human capacity of thinking. The company asserts that its mission is to create a generalised brain interface to restore autonomy to those with unmet medical needs.
But critics are of the opinion that the underlying, extended objective of the project could be perceived as controlling human emotions that impact one’s decision. In other words, the inherent attributes of a human being such as anger, fondness, gleefulness, empathy and so on are the causes that make humans different from a machine.
And if, in the process of a wider use of the brain-computer interface, humans are dehumanized, they would, perhaps, be as workable as an AI-generative machine devoid of any emotional setback such as fatigue and job-life balance. This ambition has been supported by Goldman Sachs’ prediction that at least a fourth of the current jobs would be replaced with the generative artificial intelligence soon.
Tech giants have, on the other front, successfully imbibed the consciousness of national security and safety issues especially, among the globally competing political regimes. The latter have been contrived to believe that economic as well as military supremacy today largely depends on the extent that a particular state or authority has improved its artificial intelligence plans and projects. As such, it is observed in recent years that funds are poured in billions of dollars for AI research and development.
As a result, zealotry chanted and flaming torches of nationality are upheld. Unseen and lurking enemies are regularly barked at in different parts of the world. Targets were more pinned down by means of generative artificial intelligence-guided warheads, drones and other smart weaponry befitting the age of Industrial Revolution 4.0.
In its June 12, 2023 issue, the Time magazine made its cover with the title of a report on artificial intelligence and its impact on human life. The title equated the emergence of artificial intelligence to the end of humanity. In fact, research and investment in advancing artificial intelligence has reached the equivalent stage of the arms race today. The pioneering, non-coordinated individual artificial intelligence firms are silent competitors while the research, having dreams of fortune and fame, fuel the authority’s every possibility of being defeated by competitors. As such, the race is getting uglier days in, days out, making humans, in general, their prey.
However, in a recently published essay on artificial intelligence and its implication on global industrial sectors, Omar Ocampo and AJ Schumann, two social researchers, posited that most of the artificial intelligence promises made so far to the public have been proved merely hypes as projects such as artificial intelligence-generative driverless vehicles, automated food order taking system from customers have measurably failed. They also found that despite stories of their obvious failing artificial intelligence firms are up with their propaganda to (a) scale up the funding of their ambitious projects requiring billions of dollars in investments and (b) fuelling the dream of investors whose primary goal is to make maximise profits from their investments while gradually diminishing the activities of labour organisations at work by engaging the surveillance systems to monitor such activities considered potential threats to the worker efficiency and company turnover.
TS Eliot wrote:
Time for you and time for me,
And time yet for a hundred indecisions,
And for a hundred visions and revisions,
Before the taking of a toast and tea.
But unlike a long-time musings over a tea cup, the enlightened section of human societies across the world today should have a pause to think over and proceed about today’s artificial intelligence buzz. Because, all literatures as well as rhetoric on artificial intelligence point now is its extensive use in medical sciences and treatment of patients suffering from different life-threatening diseases, mending national security and defence system and safeguarding and supervision of the factory level workplaces.
Now, after having thoroughly examined and considered the flamboyantly articulated interests of artificial intelligence in relevant fields, governments across the world need to go on implementing the 2030 agenda and the 17 SDGs more meaningfully which calls for putting the five P’s first: people, planet, prosperity, peace and partnership — honouring the intertwined nature of human existence on earth — not the robots.
World leaders should strive to ensure a peaceful co-existence of human beings rather than endorsing the only goal of the profiteering of a few individuals or some vested interests.
Md Mukhlesur Rahman Akand is a joint secretary to the cultural affairs ministry.