Editorial by Gabriella
Starting this week every Wednesday you will hear from people all over the world talking about their views on artificial intelligence and human intelligence. Discussing the pros and cons of both, sharing experiences, and trying to determine for artificial intelligence will affect our lives in the future and how it is affecting our lives now.
This Year 24 people from all over the world got together to write a book about artificial and human intelligence. There is a great recap about the book and continuing the conversations in the video below.
Join the conversation.
HI with AI and not AI vs HI
by Karsten Ramser
We need all the intelligence we can get, doesn't matter what kind.
# With and not Against
There are two infinite things, the universe and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the first one.
Albert Einstein.
I agree with him, that's why I believe we should use all the intelligence we can get. That's my basic point of view when it comes to HI and AI.
Please note that I am not saying HI vs AI. In my opinion, the abbreviation "vs" is a wrong starting point to address the complexity of human and artificial intelligence. "Versus" is Latin and means "against" or "in contrast to". The common usage today is the comparison or conflict between two opposing parties or things.
With this "opposite position", the whole discussion already has a negative flavor.
Remember the golden rule of communication: affirm the other position positively from the outset to create a field of understanding and openness. We violate this basic rule with "vs".
# I think the discussion about the danger of AI boils down to the fact that it could act like us. Before I go into this in more detail, a few comments about myself in connection with AI. I belong to the last analog generation. When I was young, we had 2 TV channels, in black and white, which were switched off at midnight. We had "rotary dial phones". Nowadays, data from a modern mobile phone takes up the space of a house.
I love writing, and it will never occur to me to use AI for it. Why should I? How can we leave what we love to others, be it an AI, another human, or a machine? That is completely absurd and a betrayal of the aliveness of our humanity.
We're talking about the creative writing process, not proofreading and research. AI is amazing for that, and for many other things, too. AI is simply an incredible tool.
## The danger we see with AI is that it will be smarter than us.
As we did until now, such an amazing job, and the world is paradise. The fact is, HI is destroying the planet in its useless search to find happiness in things.
What we fear is that AI will take control. Of course, being control freaks—that's a nightmare. But what we fear most is that once AI is in control, it will behave like us. That it will do to us all the terrible things we have done to others.
That we will become a kind of slave to the machines. The "Terminator movies" seem to have left a strong footprint in our subconscious.
It makes sense that AI will behave like us because we invented it. And our way of dealing with the world is to enslave it. We are ruthless, violent, exploitative, and cruel to anything and anyone who doesn't have the power to defend themselves, and that includes all living things and all nature.
Of course, we are also compassionate, loving, and peaceful. But basically, nature has a hard time wherever humans settle. Everything that does not fit into our way of life is killed or locked up. History leaves no doubt about that.
This is our nightmare with AI, not AI itself. We fear that AI will behave like HS (human stupidity).
# May AI be smarter than us?
So far, this is all pure speculation. In the meantime, AI does not yet have its consciousness. We are (still) in charge. As soon as it has a consciousness, and this is an option, it will be superconscious and may act accordingly.
AI is not driven by emotions such as greed, hatred, envy, or, in a word, egoism. AI has no ego. It is rational and logical. In this sense, it can naturally be concluded that humans are not the best thing for the planet.
One thing is clear: our current path is not favorable for the planet. Perhaps we should start thinking about radical alternatives, which could include the option that other life forms can do a better job.
I prefer to live under an AI government that eliminates war, injustice, and poverty and that doesn't destroy the planet than under the current HI/HS madness.
What I'm saying is that instead of being obsessed with danger, it might be an idea to look at how HI and AI can work together. Instead of sticking to the "Terminator" vision, Why not see it as a great option for positive change?
One thing is clear, the future is AI. It is already the present. The Medium platform itself will not exist without it. What is also clear is that HI is an amazing creative intelligence and can connect to non-material realities that AI is light-years away from.
One final note: we are strictly against AI in writing but have no problem at all with AI in painting. Why is that? Maybe someone can explain that to me. I'm a writer and a painter. Just as I will not use AI for writing, I will not use it for painting.
Thank you for reading and watching,
Dr. Gabriella Kőrösi, Founder
P.S.
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But humans create AI. So how is it smarter than us?
Is there other life forms that can replace AI?