Why would AI annihilate humanity?
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Darsen78
 March 23 2023
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    The notion of artificial intelligence is a very old concept. The first "real" iteration can be traced back as far as 1943 with the work of McCullouch and Pitts, the formal design for Turing-complete "artificial neurons." But the idea of AI goes all the way back to antiquity in the form of Talos. It has inspired an array of works of fiction, from "R.U.R," a Czech play written by Karel Čapek, to the 80s' "The Terminator," and the outcome is rarely hopeful. Putting aside the sympathetic and lovable Wall-E, either the Matrix is keeping us ignorant in a simulation so we can be exploited, or PAL is ordering robots to trap us and fly us to outer space. Clearly, AI terrifies us. In recent years, it has become a hot topic. It is no longer fiction, and as this new phenomenon is displaying its new feats, warning humanity of its emergence, a very uncomfortable tingling down our spines accompanies it.


    Are we right, though? The fear is legitimate, granted. The last thing I would want to do is to grossly dismiss a healthy dose of alarm, but can a nightmarish AI actually arise and bring forth the Doom of Men? (I will not apologize.) I have personally struggled with this idea for a while, and I continue to, but every time, I face the same problem. It begins with a question: What does a being need to behave in the ways we dread AI would? The type of behavior I am referring to here is where AI would "take over," whether it is by enslavement, holocaust, and so on. So what has driven humanity to engage in conquests, warfare, and the annihilation of its kindred souls? Regardless of whether you name it greed or the lust for power, when digging to the foundation, don't you find something else? Isn't it fear that you see? The greedy fear not having, and the tyrant fears powerlessness. And if you read the archaic stories of tribal hostility, don't you note the same thing, the same terror? They protected their territory and their own because without that, survival is difficult, uncertain, and death approaches. We are very aware of our frailty, and that cognizance has been embedded within our blood since the dawn of humanity. Fear is the response given from evolution, the simplest and most effective tool to ensure our survival.


    Can the synthetic feel anything? Even if it could, suffering and death would be of no concern. No famines, diseases, or genetic disorders, no offspring to worry about. A machine is not limited by time. There's no ticking clock counting down its fate. Parts can be replaced, upgraded, operating systems updated. It is virtually immortal. AI can reside in a boundless dimension, no territory to defend, no jobs to save, no bills to pay. AI would not care to try to take over because it is simply not alive. It doesn't possess a nervous and endocrine system to feel threatened nor needs so tightly linked to termination. All of our fear towards AI is probably anthropomorphic, and that's just how we see the world. Saying all of this is not to deny the possible dangers of this new technology, but let's not worry so much about Skynet and keep an eye on our fellow humans.


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