Incredible things are happening. Out of nowhere, alien intelligences have arrived. We have machines that can think.
In the previous era of the internet, data was the way in which companies and governments encroached upon individuals.
The people who kept saying "I have nothing to hide" did not realize how it was not (just) about losing privacy but about losing control. The movies they were recommended, the videos they were shown, the posts they were served, the people they were pitched - each a silent nudge until vast sections of society ended up being algorithmically controlled. Each of us became a point in a multi-dimensional database, ready to be served to the highest bidder, to be manipulated by the sharpest tricks that psychology has to offer.
But we didn't give up. It was in that era that Ente was formed, to reassert our freedom. Both as independent builders, but also as makers of products that allow other likeminded people to take back control of their lives.
We've been doing good on that front, but this post is not about that. There is a new threat.
AI will surpass us in intelligence.
People have various reactions to this, depending on where on the stairs of grief they are:
- Denial - It's just a fad
- Anger - Ban it
- Bargaining - Regulate it
- Depression - We're doomed
- Acceptance - It's here to stay, so let's be friends
A lot of the public debate is around how AI itself will behave when it crosses our intelligence. Important things to think about, but I feel focusing solely on that aspect overshadows a more immediate, and a much more likely threat.
The enemy within. The people who control AI.
They control the machines that we talk to, multiple times each day. A machine that responds as our best friend, our best critic, our careless professor, our chirpy sibling, depending on what we want it to be. Given how much the population was manipulated with silent nudges, imagine the power in the hands of those that control these machines.
The people that control AI have the power to control our very thought.
This is not about despair. We are not helpless. And the future is not fixed, no one knows for sure how things will play out. But becoming cognizant of the situation is the first step to take appropriate action.
AI systems are going to be intelligent. And they are here to stay.
Let us use them. Learn how to talk to them. And be wary of anyone who insists they alone should hold the keys.
To stay free, we must decentralize AI, understand it, and treat it a friend.