From watching ‘I am mother’ to binging ‘Is the world going to be invaded by robots in the future?’ at 2am in your bedroom, the human mind has always weighed the possibility of synthetic intelligence taking up human roles in the near future. Even though I may be a tech person, somewhere in the least of my concerns, there is a red light that blinks whenever I come across such content. So is this red light just a jitter or does it scream the doomsday of humankind?

Spoiler alert for the book ‘Origin’!

If you have read the book ‘Origin‘ by the renowned author Dan Brown, then you may have been horrified when you reached the climax. The synthetic intelligence product Winston, much like our present-day Alexa and Google Assistant, but way advanced, plots and kills it’s own creator. Now, the twist here is that Winston did nothing but what it was said to do. Yes! Shocking right?

The only disturbing fact is the lengths it goes to execute that command. Because, unlike humans, they don’t have a way out. They are programmed to carry out a task and do whatever it takes to do it. The factor of unpredictability or ‘escape’ doesn’t exist here. But humans use it all the time. My job stresses me too much? Quit it! I’m unable to concentrate on online classes? Then don’t! Scroll Instagram!

The yin-yang symbol represents order and chaos

The human mind strives to maintain order. It does not like chaos. So it eliminates negative outcomes/thoughts automatically. If you don’t believe it, then think about the fear that would engulf each person if they consider the fact that the probability they could die right now is 4%. Maybe this is what makes us humans. The ability to accept failure. The ability to ignore problems and take a positive outlook. The ability to expect good from everyone.

Humanity and synthetic intelligence

The chances that synthetic intelligence could be the 7th kingdom is definitely high. Statistics don’t lie. But that doesn’t mean its judgement day for humankind. It took million years of Darwinian evolution to end up to the species that we are now. All the fetish around synthetic/artificial intelligence, Iot and automata was formed within a few decades. For these intelligences to reach human maturity it could take a million more years. Until then, it is safe to say that you needn’t worry about sci-fi documentaries or films that romanticize robot invasion.

I hope I’ve given you enough to think about for the day. Here is a quote to conclude the post, which ironically was the inspiration behind it.

One machine can do the work of 50 ordinary men. No machine can do the work of one extraordinary man

-Elbert Hubbard