By Biraj Dixit :
“I want AI to do my laundry and dishes so that I
can do art and writing, not for AI to do my art
and writing so that I can do my laundry and
dishes.”
Joanna Maciejewska’s now famous statement
has served as a wake-up call for all of humanity
racing in a direction. I am sure I’d love it if Siri
does everything for me butforthe thinking part.
Think, I can. Very well. In fact, too well.
Friends,Iapologisebeforehand,forIwillrevert
to that inevitable habit of going“….backinthose
days when we were….”. You see when one is old
enough and fatigued enough to remember good
old days, one keeps remembering those quite
often and then comparison becomes a foregone
conclusion.
But Ifeel, a little rewind is always good for better understanding of things. You see, technology has always been the catapult to help humanity leapfrog into further and further advancement. From stone tools to metals to machines
to AI, ours have been quite a remarkable journey.And being catapulted into the nextl evel (and
not climbing the stairs one by one)? Oh, what
canbebetter!But with each such leap there have
been worries of where we land.Can’t saywehave
always achieved a soft landing.
Just Like That
Backinthedayswhentheill-effectsofTV,VCR,
refrigeratorwerewholesomelydiscussedinsocial
gatherings before they found common ground
in discussing latest serials, films they last saw at
home and batters and curries that could easily
be stored in the fridge, people were seemingly
worried about how the future generations will
handle this advancement in technologies. For,
almost every thing was bad for health and healthy
development.So,they asked us children to refrain
from over-indulgence in technology. So, while
we understood that too much technology was
bad and how good were their…’good old days’,
TV, VCR, Fridge, car, mixer grinders, microwave
ovens, washing machines etc etc etc filled our
lives.
On innumerable occasions, while eating the
wonderfully bright coloured chutney, did I hear
stories of how the chutney grind in mortar pestle stone of the yesteryears was so delectable as
if from some other universe. It certainly must be
from another universe as the mortar pestle at
my homestood its ground in the unsolicited corner of the house for years together even as the
mixer-grinder took the centre-stage.
Ditto with
the washing machine! Nothing can match the
perfection of the human hands but…!
Car was, in a way, bad as humans were forgetting the art and skill of walking… but!
AC’s were awful…but…!
We inherited a gadgeted world, our children
more so. But we have also inherited a gene pool
off atherly and motherly worries. So…’we-mustlimit-the-screen-time-for-children’ approach
continues. With the inheritance of such steel in
our resolve, how effectively we will control the
AI is a forgone conclusion. But control we must.
The AI revolution started with a promise that
it would bring unbelievable ease to human life.
The sages of the yore might have said that ease
should not be a very welcome thing if humans
are to progress in the right direction, but we
would not have come so far of wherever we are
heading, had we listened to sages. The entire
mankind is made up oft hinking beings.We don’t
get swayed.
Easy, life has become, with most things at our
fingertips.
Nay, that too, is passe. You can now
call AI for anything and everything.They can read
and write for you, learn and adapt, give the most
accurate answers, they can more or less do most
of the work for you and by virtue of that render
you useless. Any flaws or limitations that they
havewillgraduallybeclearedastheraceformore
and more perfection has already begun. People
working on it speak of AI 1, AI 2, AI 3 where the
artificial meets the authentic (human intelligence) to create Augmented Intelligence so that
creativity meets intelligence. So, the question
humanity is asking is not how much but how far.
Can it replace you? Now we come to Joanna’s juggle and that of
mankind. It must bring ease to all, not money to
some. How-so-ever neat the human hand may
be, its talents should not be wasted in tasks considered menial like washing dishes and laundry.
They should be better utilised for further in gone’s
wishes to further and further explore. But had
the world been a place where things are seldom
what they should have been.
Once the technology of nuclear power was used to disastrous
results after which the world unanimously said
no more. Yet, its stockpile keeps increasing and
everytime a war seems going out of hand,a threat
‘topressthebutton’loomslarge.Thisishowcommitted we humans are.
AI is also a powerful technology to be used
with great discretion. The same discretion is
needed to determine where our technological
path is heading to. Will it enable poor women
like Joanna and me more time to do what we
wish to or will it enslave us in a mannerin which
we will never know that we are but slaves?
Thankfully, wise voices that are usually heard
are drawing attention to AI’s usefulness. Pope
Francis, Narendra Modi and many otherleaders
of the world recently sought world’s attention
towards theneed fortreading cautiously. The G7
declaration,too,mentions the need for more regulation. But most essential will be the steel
required to say no to something you know is not
good for mankind.Most essential willbe the intelligence to differentiate between comfort and
enslavement.