Is Artificial Intelligence posing an Existential threat for Humankind?
What is real never ceases to be, what is unreal never is, the sages who know this know the secret of what is and what is not. This statement means a great deal in the context of the fast world in which we live. We live in an artificial digital world of instant gratification. We want bodily enjoyment, emotional stability and mental peace at all times. We think it is available outside of us and chase this dream. But the more we chase and satisfy our body-mind-intellect complex the more we realise that everything we gain is fleeting and ephemeral. As it comes and goes we start craving for more till we get restless frustrated and seek the final knowledge.
So do we with all the technology and science at our command have instant answers and clarity on subjects we need to know about in seconds? The answer seems to be yes on an unprecedented scale today. Those of us who have lived in both the analog and digital generation know the difference. As children we were privileged in days of scarcity, as our parents satisfied our basic needs. We had books and magazines which we got in abundance. Our lack of struggle meant that we could hone our brains to learn and become creative. However, the pursuit of knowledge was a painstaking quest. Slowly but surely we got knowledge and expertise and few of us who were gifted became scientists and through observation, analysis and hard work found answers to many problems facing mankind. However, today the incentives have changed and the rigour is missing and we want easy ways of getting what we want. The slow rhythm of life allowed us to get bored and in that time we had no source of entertainment. The problem today is that there is no chance of getting bored as the next distraction and dopamine fix is always at hand.
The next question is one of nature vs nurture. To me it is inconceivable that there is no natural inheritance because the evidence that given the same environment and nearly same conditions two persons (siblings, twins or even school mates) turn out radically different proves some kind of inheritance. Nurture too plays a role and influence of region, social structure and economic levels play a big part in the pursuit of knowledge.
Now to add to this mix in our adolescence was the advent of the internet which exposed all of us to a virtual world which although seems removed and artificial is as real as the seen world. Suddenly, we got unimaginable power and the world was literally at our fingertips. Initially the power of the internet was limited and the machines to acquire the same were also not the best. Democratization of access by making it less expensive and increased computing power gave us enormous benefits in productivity, creativity and access to content written, heard and seen in form of text, audio recordings and videos. The limitations of access were being overcome almost like a dream come true.
Cut to the era about last 10-15 years we are now talking of abuse of internet and information overload. Besides, the content we saw was based on our browsing patterns . Within no time we got what we craved for. This literally reinforces our beliefs and makes believe one view right or wrong to the exclusion of the other. Instead of making intelligent choices based on a dispassionate consideration using one's discriminatory faculty one rushes out and runs after misinformation and the fear of missing out makes us amplify our voices and echo the ones we identify ourselves with. We are like children running after toys and trinkets, as adolescents we crave relationships and infatuations and lastly name,wealth, fame and awards in adulthood. On the other hand is there something in our genes or upbringing which determine the way each individual acts differently based on the concepts of chemical genetic modification induced by environmental or inborn genetic composition? I really have no answer except that if food, gut biomes have a contribution then I think rather than nature vs nurture it a case of nature and nurture can combine positively or negatively to create a personality.
There is a constant battle between the two entities that sit by life's fountain the separate ego and the inseparable Self. The separate ego thinks of the sweet and the bitter liking sweet and disliking bitter, whereas the Supreme Self tastes the sweet and the bitter neither liking sweet nor disliking bitter. The ego gropes in darkness while the Self remains in light say the worshippers of the Fire. A life lived on the basis of the false ego is unreal and is full of fearful fragmentation. On the opposite end, a life lived on the basis of the true Self is one of fearless fullness. So all I can say from the vedanta perspective is that nature, nurture and Artificial Intelligence are all unreal but certainly not artificial as we label it merely because it is not human. The only reality is that which is the changeless whole which is the Truth or Universal Consciousness.
By this perspective I feel that in this little untrue impermanent world of body-mind-intellect complex the entity of AI or LLM will be disruptive as any change is but for the enlightened it just is one more reflection of the many manifestations of the Self. Can we be among the few who will remain detached and realise that everything is Unreal and therefore will be impermanent and against the real Self which is permanent and eternal.
If yes then even if we see the rise of AI we will not cease to exist as the universal consciousness will always exist and there will remain the underlying substratum of humanity.
Vispi Jokhi
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