Rebooting Humanity (eBook)

A Call to Awareness

E.A. Kennedy (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2020 | 1. Auflage
202 Seiten
Bookbaby (Verlag)
978-1-0983-2745-3 (ISBN)

Infos

Rebooting Humanity is a call to action for every human being on the planet. Building a better, more caring, more inclusive world will require the focus, determination, and positive action of each of us, everywhere. The book begins by looking at the current state of the world from the viewpoints of experts in science, technology, philosophy, and business and explores how we may be teetering on the brink of catastrophe through sleepwalking - lacking awareness. Many people are unaware of the threats and opportunities we face in our world, or they are simply unwilling to take action to create a better, fairer, more inclusive world. The Cosmos itself may be at risk due to our inertia. The action then takes the reader on a wild ride 'down the rabbit hole' to a fantasy world where the forces of Good and Evil slug it out to win humanity over to their respective sides. The battle is fierce. The stakes are desperately high. Will we reach our destination as augmented intelligence, or will we lower our standards and become extinct, subverting our power to the forces of darkness, as well as to Artificial Intelligence? The robots are not coming. They are already here. Ramping up their potential as we are dumbing down. Clearly, humanity needs a reboot. And fast! The over-riding message of the book is that if we are to survive and thrive, we must wake up to life, look up from our smartphones and look around at the beauty of Nature. When we remain in a state of awareness and act in the interest of the Common Good, we will be part of the Great Reboot of Humanity. And be fully alive. The book ends with a vision of what life could be like in 2050 if we wake up now to the opportunity for a massive transformation of society.

Textauszug

Chapter One:

Science, Tech, Business and Philosophy weigh in.

Where are we now and where are we going?

‘AI will reach the level of human intelligence by the year 2029,’ so says The Economist Intelligence Unit.

I don’t know how to react to this prediction - whether to be thrilled or terrified. How about you, AI?

Are you robots chuffed or insulted at this assertion?

Just look around the world as it currently stands.

Run by human beings, the world is going through massive change on many fronts: major economic challenges that destabilize political and commercial relationships - not to speak of the impact on the lives of billions of people. Political instability - fueled by egos at the center of power - and the enormous implications of climate change.

Furthermore, the acceleration of advances in technology - resulting in the rise of the robots - is reinforcing an atmosphere of tension in the global social order.

This is most obvious in the workplace. Ordinary hard-working people fear that they will lose their livelihoods to robots, via automation.

And they are right.

Especially if their work is repetitive, or process-driven in nature – such as in the case of accountants, lawyers, share traders, real estate agents, office administration staff, supermarket cashiers etc.

Writing in his 2017 book, entitled: ‘Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow’, Yuval Harari, historian at Hebrew University of Jerusalem says: ‘Technology will lead to superfluous people, as intelligent non-conscious algorithms improve.’

He further states that: ‘As algorithms push humans out of the job market, wealth and power might become concentrated in the hands of the tiny elite that owns the all-powerful algorithms, creating unprecedented social and political inequality.’

Clearly, we have something to think about when we upload our lives to social media…. What can - and what will - the algorithm owners do with us as we surrender all our rights to privacy?

On the other hand, there are those who focus on the positive.

‘Robots and artificial intelligence are upending everything we thought we knew about what it means to be human. The boundaries between person and machine are becoming difficult to define. Human brains power robotic limbs and an artificially intelligent machine serves as the manager of tens of thousands of workers; chatbots act as digital replicas of us. Humanity is effectively getting an upgrade.’ (Reuters/Mike Blake)

In their 2017 book: ‘The Future Workplace Experience’ Jeanne C. Meister and Kevin J. Mulcahy are quite clear about this. They write: ‘Every job will be impacted by technology.’ Note that they say ‘impacted’, not ‘’replaced’. As every job is composed of many elements, or tasks, many of the tasks within a job can be automated.

Research from the World Economic Forum’s ‘Future of Jobs’ report predicts that over 5 million jobs will be lost by 2020 due to developments in genetics, artificial intelligence, robotics and other technological changes.

The authors of the report also refer to a study, completed by Martin School at Oxford University in 2013, suggesting that of 700 occupations in the U.S. 47% of them are at high risk of being replaced by technology in the next one to two decades.

Some forecasts predict that, within 20 years, some 35% of jobs in the U.K. will be at risk from automation. From the data for the U.K. and the U.S. we can assume that other developed countries will be affected in the same manner.

In his intriguing book: ‘The Physics of the Impossible’, the renowned theoretical physicist, Michio Kaku, recounts the story about a speech given by Nobel Laureate, Albert A. Michelson, in 1894 in which he declared that it was impossible to discover any new physics.

Michelson pronounced: ‘The more important fundamental laws and facts of physical science have all been discovered and these are now so firmly established that the possibility of their ever being supplanted in consequence of new discoveries is exceedingly remote.’

Kaku writes: ‘His (Michelson) remarks were uttered on the eve of some of the greatest upheavals in scientific history, the quantum revolution of 1900 and the relativity revolution of 1905. The point is that things that are impossible today violate the known laws of physics, but the laws of physics, as we know them, can change.’

So, how far could this take us?

Some experts firmly believe that at some point in the future, super intelligent AI will overtake humans on the intelligence scale. This theory is referred to as The Singularity. Humans and machines operating as one entity.

In his book: ‘The Singularity is Near’, published in 2006, futurist, Ray Kurzweil, imagined a world where humans and computers merged, opening up possibilities that as yet only exist in science fiction.

Kurzweil argued that the accelerating rate of development of technology would result in progress that would be virtually instantaneous.

That is what he meant by Singularity - the fusion of mankind and machines to create what have been dubbed ‘humachines’.

Critics panned this idea at the time, but it doesn’t look so far-fetched today. It represents potential for a glorious Universal Renaissance of Creativity. Or then again maybe a dystopian world. An apocalypse, even…

It all depends on how AI is programmed and developed.

It also depends on how mankind behaves in anticipation of this potential. Awareness is the key.

How should humanity prepare for this future

If - for the sake of argument - we go along with the idea of Singularity - many questions arise as to how we can harness such an astonishing phenomenon to advance the better qualities of humankind.

How can we ensure that we understand the implications of a world in which thoughts instantly become things and minds can be mined by others for ideas, beliefs, loyalties, and prejudices?

How can we educate ourselves to prepare for this fusion?

Who - or what - can we turn to for a blueprint for our successful transition from mere mortals to augmented intelligence?

And how can we defend ourselves against the exponential development of AI, which may pose a threat to our existence?

What to do?

The advice from the Martin School researchers is this: ‘Develop skills in creativity, social intelligence, perception and manipulation, as these will be the ones least likely to be disrupted by technology.’

At least until more sophisticated AI emerges.

Which is probably way off in the distance.

But you never know… There are those who insist that robots will never be able to function like humans and handle tasks that require the softer skills of empathy and intuitive thinking. And there are those who disagree.

Who will protect us?

Governments, too, worry about the likely ensuing social unrest of the disappearance of vast swathes of work.

However, there is certainly a case to be made for the abolition of certain jobs, for instance, the dangerous ones and those that oppress people, such as sweat-shop work. But in terms of the ordinary, routine jobs that exist everywhere regardless of the level of development in that market, there are people who love the routine element inherent in those jobs.

Some people find the habitual nature of routine comforting. They come to work and do the job.

Same thing, day in and day out.

And, as a result, they collect a paycheck, and get on with their lives.

No unfamiliar circumstances. No surprises.

What will those people do when they have lost their jobs?

How will they cope financially – and even more importantly, how will they react emotionally to the loss of their identity and place in society?

Stressed-out humans are likely to clash with job-stealing AI

Advancement in technology is immensely beneficial in that it leads to increasing ease and speed of communication. However, it also results in our feeling obliged to respond almost instantly.

It is expected that this response will also be based on an acceptable level of research, be delivered confidently and, ultimately, be ‘correct’. In addition to this, we are going through a period of economic uncertainty in a world of mounting political tension.

No wonder we are feeling the strain.

There is a temptation here to scale things down.

To slow down the advances in technology.

Just to give us a breather.

But, as the authors point out in ‘The Future Workplace Experience’: ‘If technology is underutilized, then so are employees and this can lead to an erosion of resources, morale, jobs and ultimately, efficiency.’

And more frustration. And stress.

Then again, not all stress is bad. In fact, some level of stress - eustress - is essential for survival and performance.

Beyond a certain level of pressure, the situation changes into distress, a point at which performance deteriorates.

It is natural to assume that a stressed-out society is not a healthy one and that as a result, governments are concerned about this and taking steps to redress the...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 15.9.2020
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Gesundheit / Leben / Psychologie ► Esoterik / Spiritualität
• ISBN-10: 1-0983-2745-4 / 1098327454
• ISBN-13: 978-1-0983-2745-3 / 9781098327453